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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23700196">Astas' Lullaby</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/FairyOfSomething/pseuds/FairyOfSomething'>FairyOfSomething</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Amnrenian Lullabies [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Amnrena, Amnrenian Lullabies</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adventure, Angst, Aura - Freeform, Fantasy, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Horror Elements, M/M, Magic, Magic Battles, Mild Gore, Original Character(s), Original Story - Freeform, Original Universe, Psychology, Slow Burn, Sorcerers, Warlocks, Wizards, aura magic, gay will happen but later, mild body horror, occasional strong language</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 18:41:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>48,425</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23700196</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/FairyOfSomething/pseuds/FairyOfSomething</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A story about a human that wants to become a great mage and a god that seems to be on his own weird agenda.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Amnrenian Lullabies [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1718917</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Welp, that's a good start</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So, this is my first work I'll be posting here. This story is my personal brain child since I was 15 years old, so it kind of means a lot to me. Also I am not a native speaker and this is my first work in english, so be gentle please. Also if I happen to forget a tag or trigger warning, I am not great in remembering those, please tell me.<br/>Have fun reading!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There are people who say that the weather that you were born under is an omen that reflected the fate of a creatures’ life.<br/>
The wind gave freedom to move into any direction of life with great speed, but made it difficult to settle down.<br/>
A clear night might have given someone the talent to navigate the world with ease or a sense of spirituality, while a clear day could bless a person’s life with much joy and happiness.<br/>
I was born during a storm that shook trees and homes, taking everyone who was foolish enough to stay outside away to never be seen again. The sky was thick with clouds and the water that came down was freezing cold.<br/>
Where I lived there was rarely rain, but this night it was different. No one was prepared.<br/>
My first years I spent with books rather than people. I did not speak. I was able to, but preferred not to.<br/>
My parents looked at me sometimes as I sat in a corner on the floor and wondered if I was blessed or cursed by the gods that wandered the lands of Amnrena. It always ended with my father huffing and looking off into the distance. “As if there is a difference those days…”<br/>
They would often leave me to go to work, both of them being miners working for the city of Stalrem up in the mountains. A lot of people living in our village did, with rock dust crawling into every cranny of the skin and clothes. We lived between desert and stone, it was seething hot during the days and icy during the nights. </p><p>I used the days so study and the cool darkness to wander the quiet dusty streets.<br/>
People would look at me if I passed by during the day, my skin, hair and eyes too pale for this environment. They would whisper things, words that were not used in the literature I dedicated my time and little money to.<br/>
I preferred the solitude either way.<br/>
One night when I was fifteen years old there was a sandstorm which was different than any other. It whipped at the stone surfaces of our small buildings with lashes of air and rubble. Whoever was outside hurried in quickly, slamming closed doors and shutters. Not soon after screams filled the air, fear swelling among the sound of howling wind and rock crashing against rock.<br/>
My feet carried me towards the front door, my thin clothes tearing around me as soon as I opened and looking up at a creature of unspeakable marvel.<br/>
A giant dressed in shadows so deep that they swallowed the dim light of the stars. It wandered through the dust maybe two or three miles away from our village. Its limbs were long and it moved in a slow, almost relaxed manner. Around it darkness danced and twisted reality, killing and reviving which was and could not be alive.<br/>
I stared, a feeling in my chest rose as I admired the presence of this strange and mysterious being. There was no fear, just an endless sea of possibilities and questions.<br/>
As if it heard my thoughts it turned its head and two eyes like glowing embers looked back at me.<br/>
I felt like the distance did not matter, it would see anything if it wanted to.<br/>
A boulder smashed into the ground not far away from me, small splinters hit my face and sand settled on my hair and clothes.<br/>
I did not move an inch.<br/>
Those red eyes bored into mine and I could feel a grin.<br/>
It vibrated through the atmosphere, through the ground and the core of every being nearby. It crept through my aura like invisible lightning, it was too quick to brace myself against it.<br/>
I felt my own mouth twitch at that. It felt too intense, almost manic. I felt myself shaking involuntarily.<br/>
It took me a second to realize that it all came from the creature.<br/>
“Ameras!”<br/>
Behind me there was faintly the voice of my mother.<br/>
“Come back inside, what were you thinking! It can swallow you alive!”<br/>
Yes, it could.<br/>
I let myself be led inside. As I turn around one last time I see the god slowly turn away itself and move on, continuing its quest of spreading its influence.</p><p>The next day I froze a rat.<br/>
It scurried towards my early meal, eager to steal it away from under my nose.<br/>
I felt nothing but contempt for such disgusting creatures, feasting off the scraps of us civilized beings.<br/>
All it took was a single glance.<br/>
A shudder ran through its grey and brown dirty fur and it dropped to its side before its snout touched my metal plate.<br/>
I eyed the sudden death curiously and saw through the gaps of its limbs tiny flowers blooming, transparent and fragile. As I looked closer I noticed that they were ice that slowly but surely consumed the small carcass.<br/>
My father who sat across me at the table witnessed it too and frowned at me sternly. “You can use your energy. Since when?”<br/>
I did not answer. My gaze turned towards his plate and froze his untouched hardened bread and cooked potato before I got up and went outside without a word.<br/>
I sat down on the boulder that nearly struck me last night and looked at my hands as they slowly grew patterns and shapes of delicate cold crystals. They crawled over my fingertips, down my palm and wrists.<br/>
I did not believe in good or bad omens. I believed in what I saw with my own two eyes.<br/>
A crystal grew out of the back of my hand as I sat there in my thoughts.</p><p>A week later I had myself wrapped in leathers, a cloak and a bag over my shoulder, bidding my parents farewell.<br/>
They looked at me without surprise when I declared my decision to leave this village. I was provided with food, water and a small amount of money. They believed that I would either die or come back a failure, I could see it in their eyes.<br/>
We did not waste words and I was on my way shortly. I could barely remember their face.<br/>
My path went northwards into the red and brown mountains towards Stalrem. I was in need of a map of the north to reach my goal, the settlements within the Faraway Plateaus.<br/>
A book of mine told of sorcerers that lived there to study the nature and connections between the rising landmasses and the rebirth of god-kin. I planned on becoming the apprentice of one, having them teach me about my quickly growing abilities. I was going to make a fit asset for them indeed.<br/>
My path was often used and broad. It took me four hours to get to it between the jagged stone and I did not halt for a single moment. My body was not used to this amount of movement, I was pouring sweat profusely and the skin I had not covered was soon red and burned.<br/>
It did not stop me.<br/>
I have been in Stalrem before as a small child, though I hardly remembered it.<br/>
As I got closer other humans and dwarves crossed my path, carrying bulging sacks of darkened dust down the mountain. I could only assume that it was coal for the surrounding villages.<br/>
The closer I got the more people there were, walking and talking, small groups, ones with big sacks as the ones I saw before, some carried or wagons they pulled behind themselves or pulling them using trained mountain goats with muddy grey fur on long leashes.<br/>
It was much too loud, but I moved forward. At some point I must have crossed the wall into Stalrem itself, though there was too much going on around me to really notice.<br/>
The city seemed to have layers to its design, buildings stacked on each other and at the side of cliffs, naturally build to fit the mountains structure. The architecture was much more refined than I was used to, being built with cobblestone of the same reddish brown rock of the mountains.<br/>
Occasionally there were buildings of grey, much more round stones, which were not native to the Sumber Desert area. The most of them settled among the sharp blade-like stone that was the majority of the mountain peaks.<br/>
One again I drew in eyes of those around me, my small build not fit between those of hardiness and muscles. I pulled up my hood, even if it was too hot underneath it.<br/>
Following the general movement of society I ended up on a great marketplace filled to the brim with stores, booths and tables. One could barely move a step without being in another’s way and the lack of buildings nearby made the sun burn down on all these heads with even more intensity. The noise was even more amped up and I felt my face involuntarily crunch up.<br/>
I needed to find a cartographer and get out of here quickly.<br/>
I went up and asked a sturdy looking woman with dark skin who was leaning over a table with jewelry made out of rough stone and metal. The edges were so sharp that they could easily be used as a weapon.<br/>
She pointed towards the northern side of the market place and I thanked her.<br/>
Making my way there and nearly being crushed three times I found myself in front of a small building with a single door and no windows. It was open, though it was too dark to see the inside.<br/>
“Come on in, boy!” A raspy female voice called out to me. “I won’t bite.”<br/>
Good for her.<br/>
Without further hesitation I walked towards the entrance and my eyes needed to adjust for a few moments.<br/>
At first I noticed how there was barely any floor visible, it was mostly strewn paper, open and unrolled scrolls and countless stacks of leather bound books. I felt myself drawn towards the latter.<br/>
Behind one of the stacks a small woman appeared with an arm full of books. She was much smaller than average, considering her age and sagged elderly face. I assumed her to be of gnomish descend. Those were not rare around these parts, though not as common as humans or dwarves.<br/>
She had auburn hair that fell over her hunched back in messy curls and a grin that almost made me flinch back.<br/>
“I don’t get much customers these days! What do you need?” Everything she said was a mixture of talking and shouting, it made my already sore ears ring a bit.<br/>
“A map of the Faraway Plateaus, please.” I ask.<br/>
“Ah, a young adventurer, are you? Let me see what I’ll find, I don’t think I got a lot of this part of the world.” She started rummaging in a far corner out of my sight and I stayed put near the open door, the only source of light for me.<br/>
“Now listen, I travelled in my young years too, but aren’t you a little too young yourself?” The rustling of paper continued.<br/>
This was not her business. I stayed quiet.<br/>
“How old are you, boy?”<br/>
“Old enough.”<br/>
I heard a snort. “Alright then!”<br/>
I had to wait for two more minutes, this time with no verbal interruptions, until the woman appeared again with a thick scroll.<br/>
She handed it to me and now that she was right in front of me she was even smaller than she seemed from across the room, her head only reaching my chest area.<br/>
The scroll was of heavy parchment meant to survive hardy travels and compared to many books I held in my life or the other scrolls around with less of a yellowed tint. It was clearly new comparably.<br/>
“I made most of these maps myself, but not this one. I got it from a wizard only a year ago who made his way through Stalrem. Consider yourself lucky, there are not many maps of the 5th Generation’s lands around here, especially not ones this accurate!”<br/>
While the cartographer explained I opened the map and saw in great detail the giant scale of the Plateaus stretched across the parchment. There were the raised platforms of stone and hills to the north of the Sumber Mountains and great planes and meadows in the far east with countless lakes and seas interrupting them. It was all created to intricately that I could not help but be in awe. “Who made this?”<br/>
“A very attractive man in his fifties. Or maybe forties? Or sixties?” She tapped her chin in thought. “I don’t know honestly.”<br/>
“A name.”<br/>
She shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. It has been a year and I am not good with names.”<br/>
“Hm.” I looked back at the map. “How much?”<br/>
That grin came back. “Good taste you got there! For this amount of detail and quality I have to put it as seven gold pieces!”<br/>
I only had five. And those were meant to last my entire way for food and shelter.<br/>
I thought and my eyes trailed the map again. “Three.”<br/>
“Three gold pieces?! No way!” The gnomish woman shook her head violently. “I get that you don’t know much about the world, boy, but seven is already a fair price for something a- as- ah-“<br/>
She started to cough and the words got stuck where they were. Her breath came in wheezes and her hands went instinctively up towards her neck as she stared at me with bulging eyes. “A-ah…”<br/>
It took me a moment to understand that I was the cause of this. There was a hum in the back of my existence that I could have easily missed if I would not look for it. In this moment I felt the water that held the cells in her body hydrated very vividly and her throat felt tight as it slowly froze up.<br/>
I froze up myself. This time I had not even looked at her or intended to cause her harm. It happened on its own.<br/>
Did I want this deep inside? Without my knowledge? Was this really me?<br/>
I clenched the map between my hands.<br/>
There were conflicting emotions within me, ones of shock and… something else.<br/>
It did not stop. The tanned skin of the woman turned purple and her expression was pure fear.<br/>
With unsteady hands I reached within my bag and pulled out three gold coins. I dropped them on the floor in front of her and left quickly without looking left or right, pressing the map against my chest as I ran.<br/>
I vanished within the mass of noise and sweat until I could not feel that woman’s presence anymore. I needed to leave immediately in case she would call or the Helders, which were responsible for upholding a base line of peace in Stalrem and the surrounding villages.<br/>
I heard of executions for less than what I did.</p><p>The further I came to leaving Stalrem the more narrow the streets were and the quality of the architecture decreased rapidly. The road became increasingly narrow, though I did not encounter as many folk which was quite in my favor.<br/>
My way out of the city was swift and without further interruptions. I kept going north, securing the map in my bag and the path forward memorized in my mind.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. In which Astas admires nature and nature admires him back</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you guys for the kudos on my first chapter! I was surprised I even got any considering that this is an original work and I am still new on this site. So here you go guys, have the next chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The way through the mountain tops was difficult, because none really existed. All existing paths led to different mines deeper into rock and rubble and thus I was left climbing rough terrain to get to the other side.<br/>
When I finally reached a comparatively low place between the gap of two tall mountain peaks I got my first glance at the world beyond.<br/>
And there was green, a lot of it.<br/>
I have read about these environments prior in literature about the 4th Generation and fields that stretched as far as the eye could see. Somewhere in my mind I also recalled that the ground was quite fertile and suited for agriculture.<br/>
All these vibrant colors were blinding my eyes for a second and truth being told slightly a shock for me. My eyes were used to varying shades of brown, grey and sand colors. Seeing those gentle, almost peaceful, rising and falling land was such a difference to the barren rocky terrain I grew up in.<br/>
Readying myself for the world to come I straightened my back and begun my descend. </p><p>Going down a mountain was easier than a climb, as expected.<br/>
I quickly noticed the different kind of vegetation this side had to offer. There were high trees with dark green needle-like leaves holding onto the rough ground between the rocks and the air felt cooler and soothed my burnt skin.<br/>
The earth I walked smelled and felt strange under my shoes, though not unpleasant. It was soft, not as soft as sand, but it gave my feet a bit of a bounce.<br/>
And there were noises everywhere. Rustling between bushes, calls of birds or smaller animals that quickly rushed away as I went past.<br/>
In the desert there was often silence, all living beings had learned to hold perfectly still to either camouflage from their prey or their hunter. Every creature was fighting to stay barely alive and here everything was buzzing, humming, chirping and moving.<br/>
I was intrigued. A part of me wanted to sketch every unfamiliar organism I saw to document them for later reference, but this had to wait. I had to reach my destination first and foremost, everything else would come after.<br/>
The map told me that I was quite fortunate to find the gap I passed through, this was indeed the most direct way to get to the Plateaus. Still, to find the nearest place of civilization would take me at least three days.<br/>
I planned on walking until sunset, but my feet were not too keen on my decision so I sat down and leaned against the dark bark of one of the needle trees as I unpacked a ration.<br/>
It was sometime in the afternoon I assumed, though I could not make out the sun very well from where I was.<br/>
As I ate I found myself fascinated by the volume of the wood I leaned against. I could feel how swollen its trunk was with the water it had consumed with its roots. Compared with the rare dry trees found in the desert this one was also much taller, stretching towards the sun proudly.<br/>
With surprise I felt my own aura vibrate in a lively manner among it all.<br/>
I wondered if I could manipulate it too, considering what I just did to that gnomish woman. The memory made me press my lips together tightly and I banned it from my mind.<br/>
With one hand against the trunk I could feel its cells, humming with vitality. A slow, barely noticeable rush of water that grew steadily colder aligned with my own energy. The wood whined underneath my fingers and I could feel my influence expand with a low cracking and splintering sound.<br/>
Before I destroyed too many of the cells I took my hand away and decided to stop.<br/>
It just continued on its own like it did before.<br/>
I looked at my hand and back at the bark, at a loss of what to do.<br/>
Why did it not stop? Should those powers not listen to its master?<br/>
The wood cried out louder and I heard an ear numbing crack on the inside of the tree. It was not long before it would give in.<br/>
Quickly I wrapped up what was left of my food and walked off in the hope that if my aura was not in reach of the tree anymore my influence would stop.<br/>
I heard the tree behind me die and fall to the ground with a muffled noise on the soft ground and birds rose from the trees around it flapping wildly in fear.<br/>
It was then that I wondered if might have killed that woman.</p><p>This night was the first one I spent away from Pieh.<br/>
I had been in that village since I was born and knew nothing else except what literature could tell me, if it found a way down to us.<br/>
I grieved that I had to leave my books behind, even though it was the most sensible decision to do so. They were too heavy to carry around and I already knew most of them by heart either way.<br/>
I found a place between two grey boulders that were overgrown with a soft green plantlike fur I did not know the name of. I carried needles from all around me and set them down between to build a small heap that was probably more comfortable to sleep on than the hard ground.<br/>
I also found a few branches on the ground to cover my spot with, though I was not too confident that it would work in fooling any nocturnal predators.<br/>
After I was finished my hands felt raw and full of scratches and I decided that a life out here in the wilderness would not suit me for the future.<br/>
I lied down within the very narrow space and curled myself up, waiting for darkness to swallow me.<br/>
The sounds here were different in the dark than what I grew up with too, which I had expected to a degree, but I did not expect the cold on this side to feel so humid. Though I preferred it to nights in the desert, which were suffocating most of the time.<br/>
On my new uncomfortable bed I fell asleep.</p><p>Rain started to fall at the end of the night.<br/>
I knew rain from the few times I have experienced it, though here it felt heavier and persisted for a longer time. It startled me for a moment as the water came rushing down with force and the branches I previously collected gave me hardly any shelter.<br/>
I huddled up closer to one if the boulders and pulled my hood up. It was made of a rough fabric that was not made to protect from water and thus soaked it up quickly.<br/>
I waited as my mood dropped significantly.<br/>
The sun started to rise soon, so I grasped my few belongings and moved on. After a few more hours of walking the vegetation changed into one of trees with white bark and delicate small leaves.<br/>
I have only seen such leaves documented in a book of the world outside the Sumber Desert, but this was years ago and I had to resell it soon. Despite my urge to move on I picked a few and studied their structure as I walked.<br/>
They felt soft and pleasant in my hands and their vein-like structure was still filled with water. I stuck them in my bag, hoping to find heavy books to press them in soon. </p><p>Something was not right.<br/>
I was now used to the sounds of the forest between twigs, leaves and the dirt, but after a few more hours of walking it grew louder. It could not have been from one of the small critters living in the underbrush.<br/>
I had almost reached the foot of the mountain, the white trees had gotten bigger and there were barely any needle trees around anymore. Leaves covered the sky like a thick blanket and it was difficult to make out where the sounds came from in this dull light, but they sounded heavy and fast.<br/>
I braced myself for whatever was coming in my direction.<br/>
The next second I felt the ground shift beneath me abruptly and it pulled my feet from underneath my body. I fell on my stomach with a dull sound and the air escaped my lungs. Before I could put my hands below me to push myself up again I felt myself be grabbed by the shoulder and turned around in one harsh movement.<br/>
What I saw was the face of a massive pig, though it was not similar to the pigs I had known from the stalls that the wealthier people of Pieh sometimes owned.<br/>
It was covered in short bristling hair and had tusks pushing out from its bottom lip. It made a horrible sound that sent a shiver down my back and it took me a moment before I noticed the rest of its body.<br/>
It was one of a human, covered in garments of rough leathers and possibly plant fibers. What I could see of its skin also had the rough texture and hairs of the pig head and the hand that still held me above the ground did feel strangely human, but also not at the same time.<br/>
This was a Feri.<br/>
I had not encountered one myself before, they were rare in the area I lived in, but I had heard about them. Creatures with the ability to shift between the appearance of an animal and a person. Too smart to be animals and not civilized enough to live among cultured folk.<br/>
I started to move my limbs to get out of its grasp, but to no avail. The half-pig form gave it a feral strength that far surpassed mine.<br/>
It opened its maw and a voice vaguely human came out. “What doo we ave ere? A little snooggy wooggler.”<br/>
A what?<br/>
I quickly grasped its hand with my own and focused my energy.<br/>
“Eugh!” It flinched back and shook its hand as if it was burned as I fell to my back.<br/>
It had worked, but my relief was short-lived as I attempted to get up only to be greeted by a metal spear against my throat. “A little magic oone, are yoo?”<br/>
My eyes darted towards the one of the Feri in an attempt to get the same results I had with the cartographer, but before I could even figure out the different physical structure of the creature I felt a thin warm trickle down my neck.<br/>
“Wooldn’t doo tat if I were yoo.”<br/>
Was this where I died? I could not even pass the mountains.<br/>
Maybe my parents were not wrong after all.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. In which Astas needs to get the heck out of there</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I want to thank Holly and Kyu specifically, my two beta readers that keep this story in check because I sure can't!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Feri warrior carried me like I was its game thrown over its shoulder carelessly. I fought against the grip of the massive hand for a while, but it was straining and I gritted my teeth as I thought of a way to escape.<br/>
It still held the spear at my neck with its other hand, the creatures insurance against me using my energy against it.<br/>
Instead I took a breath and used my aura to examine his, which was not difficult due to me being physically close to it. I barely needed to extend it and attempted to get a feel for its body structure and more importantly the way its blood circulated and where the organs were located.<br/>
If I needed to fight this creature after all it had to be fast, because it seemed to be well trained and quick on its feet as it carried me back up the mountain.<br/>
After a long time of walking we reached a collection of tents and makeshift barricades of rock and wood settled between large boulders at a rocky area of the mountains side.<br/>
I noticed other humanoids walking around in the same clothing as the pig man, most of them were partially transformed as the one that caught me, but sometimes a giant boar would cross our path walking with pride as if the world belonged to them only.<br/>
Some Feri even seemed to be completely human, if there would not have been the dirt and stench of animal fur that hung in the air heavily.<br/>
It did not matter what they did, garbing leathers shaping stone weapons or cutting freshly hunted meat, they all looked up as we walked past and sounds followed us that were a combination of animal noises, low growls and murmurs.<br/>
I swallowed and glanced around quickly. There were about sixty of them I could see outside, who knew how many were not visible to me at the moment. There was no way of fighting my way to freedom, I needed speed and wit if I wanted to get out of here alive.<br/>
The pig man raised me above his head with one fleshy hand around my ankle and walked in a circle as he presented me to its clan. It hurt, but I would not make a noise.<br/>
“Foond a wooggler!”<br/>
A few guttural words and shouts were exchanged between the Feri and some got up from their work and moved towards the back of their camp and vanished between more tents.<br/>
The man turned me towards his face and its musky breath hit my face as it growled. “Let’s see wat oor leader has too say aboot sneaky oones like yoo.”<br/>
I wanted to reply that I was in fact not sneaking around, but my eyes were suddenly caught by a thin black line of fluid trailing down the creature’s maw and dripping off its chin.<br/>
My stomach turned at the sight, but I did not understand why. Was that its blood?<br/>
I had no time to think any more as I was slumped over the shoulder once more and carried further into the back area of the camp. We reached a great tent built of sticks and leaves with living trees and bushes naturally bent and woven into its structure. It looked like a turned over basket.<br/>
We pushed aside strings of animal hair and fiber that hung at the entrance as if it was supposed to be a door and stepped inside the barely lit interior. Low glowing embers of a bonfire were the only source of light in the middle of the round room and for a moment I could not make out any shapes.<br/>
I had read somewhere that many Feri could see better in the dark than humans, depending on their species. I was unsure if it was the case for these particular ones.<br/>
After a moment my eyes adjusted slightly and I saw a dark mass that was covering the ground like thick mud. There was a stench in the air piercing into my nose that was different than the smell of the pig people, it made my head spin and throat burn every time I inhaled.<br/>
I shivered, I had never smelled something like this before. Something within me, maybe instinctual, screamed at me to run from it and that whatever that was, was very wrong.<br/>
“Wat’s tis…”<br/>
A guttural voice came from a great lump pressed against a wall. I only noticed it as it moved and shifted and I realized that it was the silhouette of a creature that rose up to a height that almost touched the ceiling of the great tent.<br/>
Each tusk was as long as one of my arms and I expected its body to match the giant head, but it did not. I could not see very well in the dark and having it covered by the dark mass, but seemed smaller, almost frail.<br/>
Somewhere within the dripping mass a maw opened and I heard the slushing sound of the ichor as it yawned, exposing a row of teeth. Then another one. And another one.<br/>
My stomach dropped immediately and I was sure, more sure than anything I had ever known, that I looked at something that should not exist.<br/>
No pig could be this alien, this horrifying, humanoid or not.<br/>
This was twisted, a mutation, something. And it was dangerous.<br/>
Deeply shaken I turned my head towards the Feri carrying me to witness its reaction.<br/>
Its eyes seemed steely, it clearly knew about this creature’s condition. But beneath this expression, I saw a quiver of its mouth, just for a second.<br/>
“I smell a wooggler.” The thing turned its head towards us.<br/>
“He came froom the moontains aloone, Great Hoonghoorn.”<br/>
The thing I recognized as their leader turned its head towards me and its nostrils, which were both the size of my torso, inhaled sharply.<br/>
A few specks of dark ichor flew off and met my hand, which felt like they caught flames. My head started to spin and my muscles went limb with the searing white pain I experienced.<br/>
“A yoong oone. I smell te doost oof te desert oon it.” I heard through the haze of my mind.<br/>
“It has magic, Hoonghoorn.”<br/>
An almost thoughtful growl filled the room as it inched closer to us with the sound of thick sludge shifting around its form.<br/>
I felt like backing off or bracing myself against this beast, but I only managed to move my head that lulled towards it. It felt as heavy as a rock as I stared down this deranged thing.<br/>
“Doo yoo coome to harm oor clan, yoong magic wooggler?”<br/>
“I…” I heard myself speak weakly with a heavy tongue. “…did not know… your territory.”<br/>
“Yoo didn’t answer. Yoor kin came too os ooften wit magic. We had oonce a tribe dooble the oone we have noow, bot yoor…”<br/>
Its body suddenly shook and it made a strange noise. Breathing heavily it fell back onto its back, sending a wave of the ichor in all directions. It miraculously did not hit us.<br/>
I watched as a gurgling sound echoed from the creature as a stream of the dark mass flowed out of its mouth, splashing the wall and the floor around it.<br/>
It roared so loudly a few of the branches fell out of the ceiling and falling on top of it. “OOOAAAAARRGGGHHH…..”<br/>
A gaze turned towards us, beady eyes filled with a terrible hunger.<br/>
“COONSUMEEE.”<br/>
Then it started cringing around its own core with another wave of pain and cried out.<br/>
Even the pig man holding me took a step back halfway through the entrance and I felt myself getting sick as an intense cloud of burning gasses made my nose numb and eyes tear up.<br/>
Then I noticed something different.<br/>
There was a red glow in the corner of the room, barely noticeable within the shadows. It was stationary and something about it felt vaguely familiar to me.<br/>
I focused on it and let my own aura reach out towards it carefully, knowing that this would leave me more vulnerable to the influence of other creatures.<br/>
Through the piercing vile grip that hung on everything that the dark mass touched I felt another energy faintly emanating from the corner, hidden among the noise of everything else. Its vibration was low, comparable to someone breathing slowly to not have it be heard.<br/>
Whatever was hidden did not want to be found.<br/>
The second I came to this conclusion it moved. The glow turned slightly into my direction and I saw it looking at me. Then I felt a grin pulsing in the atmosphere around us.<br/>
The god I saw only a week ago. They were here.<br/>
As quickly as the moment came it went and the red glow faded away together with the aura.<br/>
My mind was clear again after this and I noticed my captor being distracted by their leader howling on the ground. This was my chance. I had no idea what was going on in this place, but I would not stay here to find out more about it.<br/>
I moved my aura that was already stretched out like an arm towards the terrible beast before me.<br/>
Sensing anything was even more difficult than with the other pig man before, it felt like the sludge tore through every cell of it, consuming it whole.<br/>
Finally I found an artery, the only indication of this thing ever being anything other than what it was now. Around it small branches of blood flow revealed themselves to me, spreading around the head like a net.<br/>
I felt my power surging through the creature or what was left of it. Ice froze the organic matter within seconds, but not affecting the ichor that was almost everywhere.<br/>
It dawned on me that my energy could not harm it and for a second I feared that it would not be enough to end this beast.<br/>
Then the leader of this pack screeched loudly and with a crash its massive skull fell to the ground, leaking what smelled like blood mixed with toxic sludge.<br/>
The pig man that was still holding me howled, but he had his spear dropped throughout our time in here and before he could do anything I had scanned its body and made out the parts that were still natural.<br/>
My hands grasped backwards against its upper torso and ribs and I felt my powers taking hold.<br/>
With a horrible sound it doubled over and let go of me, sending me plummeting right into the thick dark mass.<br/>
My skin immediately felt like bursting into flames, breaking open and curling up like paper thrown into flame.<br/>
I screamed, a sound I had never heard my throat produce, as I pushed myself up on my knees quickly.<br/>
I needed to get out, now.<br/>
I slipped a few times, my head swimming and all of my senses were blinded by the sensation of the sludge clinging to me and piercing into my very being, physical and otherwise.<br/>
I thought I went mad in this pain.<br/>
With all of my will I managed to get up and my feet carried me outside stumbling. Bright daylight hit my already watering eyes and I fell onto my hands.<br/>
I tried to push myself up again, but I could not. My muscles did not listen to me anymore, I felt weak and heavy and was searing alive.<br/>
The very core of my existence felt like it would be ripped apart and I gritted my teeth as I held back more shouts.<br/>
The other Feri had obviously heard the echoing cries within their leader’s tent and came running, ready to fight with risen weapons and sharp tusks, howling in anger to defend whatever was left of that pile of withering misery.<br/>
That would also be me soon.<br/>
I felt a soothing cold creeping within my very core as it fought to protect itself against both the threat on its inside and the outside.<br/>
The ground surrounding me started to freeze over in a spiraling pattern and sent a few Feri falling over, but it was not enough.<br/>
Icy spikes grew like unyielding obelisks, tearing their hooves up, piercing their skin and fur and sent blood pouring, but they kept charging.<br/>
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I felt their bodies, hot and steaming in rage and agitation all around me. Some filled with the same illness that took a hold of their leader, some were not.<br/>
It did not matter.<br/>
A moment later they were all on the ground, writhing and screaming in pain until they were not.<br/>
And then there was a silence.<br/>
It was like the entire forest, every critter and every leaf had stopped moving. Not a single bird sang, this was no occasion for such a thing.<br/>
Finally it was quiet, it was peaceful.<br/>
I felt so heavy.<br/>
I wanted to sleep.<br/>
There were footsteps breaking the silence.<br/>
They stopped in front of me.<br/>
There was a thoughtful hum.<br/>
“You. I like you.”<br/>
I wanted to look at them, but could not even do so much as to move my eye lids.<br/>
I felt two arms slowly turning me on my back and creeping up under me.<br/>
I felt myself being lifted up and held.<br/>
My limbs hang uselessly and my head slumped against my chest.<br/>
“Let’s patch you up and talk a bit, shall we?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Astas makes a new friend</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks again to Holly and Kyu for correcting this chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>All I felt was filled with the heavy searing hotness of the desert.<br/>
I was a mere dried out husk, barely alive, a piece of human leather. My mouth felt like it was filled dust with chapped lips that gaped for air dryly like each inhale could me my last.<br/>
I thought that I was dying.<br/>
I wanted to struggle.<br/>
I was not finished yet.<br/>
I would not go like this.<br/>
I would not fail.<br/>
Not here, or ever.<br/>
The air around me slowly grew cooler and I started to get a feeling within my arms and legs again.<br/>
I moved them carefully and something brushed my skin with a small rustle.<br/>
I opened my eyes.<br/>
It was night time. The sky above me was dark and I could see the branches swaying gently in the wind, illuminated by a low orange light.<br/>
I turned my head and saw a small bonfire next to me. Pushing myself up I looked around and there was nobody else but me. The thick itching huddle of dry leaves I sat on rustled with each of my movements.<br/>
This was real, was it?<br/>
I was still alive?<br/>
My throat felt as dry as in my dream and I looked around for my bag. It was within reach and as stretched my arm out I figured how sore I was. Looking inside everything was still there as I left it. Rations, water, the map, my small gold pouch…<br/>
I looked down at myself and all the dark ichor was gone. Had I been washed?<br/>
Feeling uncomfortable with that thought I took my waterskin and drank until it was empty.<br/>
Still not entirely satisfied with the sticky sensation in my mouth I put it away and took out the map to check if it was unharmed too.<br/>
“Heya.”<br/>
The murmur was right behind my ear and nearly scared me out of my own skin. I instinctively threw my arm back as I spun around.<br/>
There was a boy crouching next to me, head turned away as he rubbed his cheek with the right hand.<br/>
“Whoa. Nice backhand there.” He turned towards me with a chuckle. “Should have expected that.”<br/>
A moment later I could see a mischievous grin, dark shoulder length hair that had never seen a comb in its life and tanned skin.<br/>
“Before you ask: No, I didn’t undress and wash you, if this is any consolation.”<br/>
I moved away from him as much as my unstable bed of leaves allowed me to. A frown formed on my face as I calculated the danger of this situation.<br/>
“Don’t worry, I don’t wanna hurt you. I just want to chat a little.”<br/>
I glared him up and down, he was much too close for my liking.<br/>
“Not much of a talker, are you?”<br/>
Slowly and with care I extended my aura to study this other person in secret. What I felt was akin to a brick wall, impassable.<br/>
“Hey now, that’s a breach of privacy.” The boy’s voice sounded amused. “Okay, you know what? I’ll fill your water skin, maybe then you see that I won’t harm a hair on that cutesy tiny head of yours.”<br/>
He stretched out his hand and waited.<br/>
I stared at it blankly.<br/>
“…come on, you wanna leave me hanging? Give me the thing, so I can-“<br/>
“You are that god.”<br/>
His grin disappeared.<br/>
I almost wished it back, because something about his serious expression was deeply unsettling.<br/>
He drew his hand back in. “Yeah, so what?”<br/>
“What did you do to me?” I asked bluntly.<br/>
“Me? I didn’t do anything.” He looked at me and chuckled again. “Gotta say though, you are a real fighter. Wiping out this many people while barely hanging on by a thread? Damn nice!”<br/>
“What do you want?” I ask with a sharp voice. I could feel his presence then, he stopped holding it down anymore. It was humming through me, through the world around us and possibly everything else like an angry wasp hive.<br/>
“Like I said, just want to chat. I’m Turo.” He held out his hand, this time as a greeting. “What’s yours?”<br/>
I was confused. Still clutching my bag my eyes glanced back between the hand and his now relaxed face. Why was he acting like a human?<br/>
Apparently I took too long to react, because his arm pulled back again with a huff. “You are interesting. How did you survive that corruption? What did you do with it?”<br/>
He leaned back and crossed his arms, eying me with curiosity now.<br/>
I did not know what he meant.<br/>
As I did not respond he leaned forward with a smirk and whispered as if he was telling me a secret: “By the by I passed though that mountain city and the exciting mood there must be your making too, right? Blonde little ice boy?”<br/>
My teeth clenched. So they were looking for me. I needed to get off this mountain in case I was being followed.<br/>
Turo wiggled his finger at me. “Rude to just leave them hanging like that! Giving a little pre-taste and then not delivering a show? A wasted opportunity if you ask me.”<br/>
“What did you mean with me surviving a corruption?” I asked.<br/>
“Oh you don’t know? That black slimy business, it consumes the entire aura of a creature and either turns them into something else or kills them outright.”<br/>
I felt my stomach turning. “Am I corrupted?”<br/>
“Maybe. I dunno.” He shrugged. “When I dragged you here you just sponged that stuff up and then it was gone. Never seen anyone do that.”<br/>
I held back my urge to gulp. Was the ichor within me now? Was this my death sentence?<br/>
Turo continued, eying me up close. “How do you feel? Dizzy? Hungry? Dying? Wanting to just go ape shit?”<br/>
I leaned away as far as I could, bringing more distance between me and him and glared. “Neither.”<br/>
“Huh.”<br/>
A grin curled on his face again and he leaned back, this time he seemed very pleased with himself. “Good, fine, perfect. I will stick around for a bit and see what will happen. If anything changes, tell me.”<br/>
“Wait, what?” I asked frowning.<br/>
“What? Aren’t you happy about that?” He huffed. “You are here, wandering through the lands, all alone and almost getting killed? You should be glad to get some company, especially mine! Usually people are crying to have me stick around for a little longer!”<br/>
I did not know if the laugh that followed was a happy, sarcastic, mischievous or plainly evil one.<br/>
I sighed deeply and accepted that I would most likely not change the mind of a god.<br/>
I could be dying either way, no matter if that powerful being decided that it would end me for whatever reason.<br/>
I got up from the pile of leaves and put my bag over my shoulder. “I appreciate you sparing my life. I will leave now.”<br/>
Arms flailing Turo stood up and went after me. “Wait, hold up!”<br/>
A sizzling sound behind me made my head turn and I saw the bonfire being turned into a dead pile of charred wood.<br/>
“You are going north, right? I am on a bit of a road trip myself and this would have been my direction to go too.”<br/>
I exhaled through my nose, moving into the direction of my destination.<br/>
Hasty steps followed behind me as he tried to keep up.<br/>
“Hey wait, you haven’t told me your name yet!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Two idiots travelling</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Again, Holly and Kyu, man. Thanks so much for beta reading my chapters, you are such a great help!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The constant pulse of power that followed me around as I walked throughout the day was irritating, but the thought of being potentially at deaths door was distracting me from it well.<br/>
I did not let it show to the god, but I checked the energy with me nearly without pause, trying to root out something that should not be there, but I sensed nothing unusual than my familiar cold fog.<br/>
As we wandered down to the foot of the mountain we found a small stream and I crouched down to fill up my waterskin. I felt Turo’s eyes burning into my back as I did.<br/>
I stared ahead unblinkingly. “What?”<br/>
“Soo, you good?”<br/>
I felt my eyebrows furrow. “Obviously I am.”<br/>
“Are your powers wonky? Try freeze stuff up! I bet you can easily turn the creek solid if you wanted to.”<br/>
I turned my head barely, enough to see his shape at the edge of my vision. “Why would I do that?”<br/>
“I dunno. For fun?”<br/>
I took a deep breath. He was observing me like a research object, seeing what would happen next. It was not pleasant, having eyes on me constantly, but if he could get me closer to a cure then I would accept this treatment temporarily.<br/>
I stood up again and moved on, storing away the waterskin. “How long does it take until the first signs of corruption show?”<br/>
I heard him splutter and cough. “Uhh, I dunno. Depends, I guess.”<br/>
There was a long silence that followed.<br/>
My eyes stared ahead towards the space between the trees and I thought of the map I had studied earlier. At some point there had to be a tree line and after this mainly open field.<br/>
A hand hit my shoulder and I flinched. “So, where you headed at anyway?”<br/>
“North.”<br/>
“Well, duh. But where exactly?”<br/>
I glanced at him walking beside me and thought that it would possibly do no harm to let him know of my destination. “The Faraway Plateaus.”<br/>
He stopped abruptly. “Wait, but there’s nothing but those research guys. You won’t possibly go there, do you?”<br/>
“Yes.”<br/>
Another hit came down on my shoulder and I toppled over. “THIS IS PERFECT!”<br/>
I hissed as I pushed my hands into the dirt and glared up at him. “Why?”<br/>
Turo seemed to be exhilarated, standing in front of me with wide arms. “Researchers! Smart people! They can find out about this corruption business!”<br/>
I stared at him without a word.<br/>
“Maybe they even know how to cure it! You are a genius, ice boy!”<br/>
I got up and straightened my back as I turned to face him and his excited gestures. “So you do not know how to cure it?”<br/>
“Uhh, no?”<br/>
“Should a god not be omniscient?” I asked with too much force in my voice.<br/>
His shoulders sank. “Uhh, no…”<br/>
I had to close my eyes and took a deep breath. Well, this was unfortunate if not completely disheartening.<br/>
I have never put my faith into the gods before and apparently this had been a wise decision.<br/>
As I turned my back to Turo and continued walking at a faster pace I heard him running up behind me hastily. “Come on, don’t be like that! I am very powerful and stuff!”<br/>
“Not powerful enough, apparently.” I clutched my bag and moved even faster.<br/>
“Ugh, you sound like Asphere.” He huffed.<br/>
This made me stop in my tracks again. I turned my head. “Asphere exists too?”<br/>
“Yup.”<br/>
I should have figured that he knew her, but I did not expect her to still be active in this Generation. “Is she like you?”<br/>
Turo smirked and struck something that maybe should have been an impressive pose. “You mean this cool and smart and witty-“<br/>
“A god.”<br/>
He sighed in exasperation. “Yeaaah, she’s like me. What about her?”<br/>
“Does she have power over the corruption?”<br/>
I did not get an answer right away. Turo crossed his arms and looked up to the trees. “Hmm, I dunno. If she did she would have probably done something about it by now, I guess.”<br/>
I frowned. “Can you not ask her?”<br/>
“Listen, I don’t know where she even is half of the time… most of the time.”<br/>
With a sigh I turned around and kept walking, deciding to drop the topic we were talking about.<br/>
Though despite my disappointment it was certainly interesting to learn about god-kin from its very source. As far as I knew knowledge about their actions and movements were patchy to say the least and I recognized an opportunity if it opened up in front of me.<br/>
Maybe I could pick this up later and write down what I could. It might impress my future tutors and make it easier to become an apprentice.</p><p>We finally reached the foot of the mountain in the early afternoon. It had taken much longer than the climb, but considering that I was kidnapped and lost time by being dragged up the mountain again by this Feri this was no surprise to me.<br/>
I looked through the last trees of the forest and saw rolling fields green grass spreading across the horizon as far as my eyes could see. It almost reminded me of the dunes at home at the first glance, though the color palette was not the same.<br/>
The sun caught the long blades and made them shimmer as the wind brushed over them in an almost lazy manner.<br/>
“I will rest here.” I told my companion with the underlying message of him being able to continue on his own if he so desired. If he would be of no help to me he might as well leave me alone, at least for a while.<br/>
He did not. He settled down and leaned into a tree stretching his arms. “Cool beans.”<br/>
I knew of beans, we had access to small brown ones with a thick protective shell back at our village. I did not understand the context this god was using them in though.<br/>
I took out one of my rations and started to eat slowly.<br/>
Only now I felt how much my throat burned and feet ached. My stomach convulsed at the food and I set it aside quickly clenching my hand over my mouth.<br/>
I had been weakened by the incidents of yesterday, I could not afford to lose any of my food too.<br/>
“Hey, are you sick?” Turo stared over to me with something that might have been worry if it had not been overshadowed by blatant curiosity.<br/>
“I am fine.” I murmured, taking a breath.<br/>
“We were walking half of the night and didn’t even stop for a breakfast snack.” Turo stated. “So either your food is spoiled or it’s a sign of corruption.”<br/>
I continued chewing despite myself, just to show that there was nothing wrong. “You are not eating yourself.”<br/>
“I don’t need food.” He let out a snort. “But to be honest I’d die for a cake right now, with strawberries and cream.”<br/>
A cake? Strawberries? I had never heard of such things.<br/>
I turned my eyes towards the horizon again and continued feeding my body. It took a while, but my stomach got used to food and accepted it gratefully.<br/>
“You could use a good slice of cake too, man.” Turo continued talking. “You are as thin as a needle. I could almost lift you up with one hand when I picked you up yesterday!”<br/>
My teeth made a grinding sound before settling for their slow chewing pace again.<br/>
“What are you eating there, anyway?”<br/>
Gods, I could really use a quiet moment to myself right now.<br/>
“Sounds crunchy.”<br/>
I chewed faster.<br/>
“Can I see?”<br/>
Before I could even turn around I felt him peak over my shoulder annoyingly close again and staring at the ration in my hands with bulging eyes.<br/>
“What’s that? Looks like some bread bun with seeds.”<br/>
I needed to take a deep breath again before turning towards him and putting one hand on his shoulder to push him away from me slowly but firmly.<br/>
Turo sat back with his hands on his knees looking baffled at my reaction, but apparently taking the hint as he stayed like this without making another attempt at getting closer.<br/>
“They are called Sand Rocks. They are heated under a special flame to harden and endure for a long time and in harsh environments without losing their nourishing value.” I explained.<br/>
“O-oh. Okay.” He moved back to his place under a tree and crossed his hands behind his head, suddenly looking thoughtful.<br/>
He said nothing this time and it was a relief honestly.<br/>
I finished in silence and got up brushing off the crumbs from my lap. “I am finished. Let us move on.”<br/>
He nodded at me and we set path on the lands that were supposedly created in the 4th Generation of Amnrena. My map called it the Shining Meadows.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. The village of prosperity</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you guys for the kudos! And also thanks again for my two wonderful beta readers!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Evening fell over the grass hills of the Shining Meadows and we had put a good distance between us and the mountains. At one point in time I had looked back at the way that I came. I could see the mountain peaks and even make out the small gap I had passed.<br/>
I did not feel accomplished yet, maybe I would once I reach my destination.<br/>
This place was quite gorgeous I had to admit. The top of the grass brushed against my knees and even here without many trees or bushes there were noises everywhere of insects buzzing or small creatures hiding in the grass. There were very small white and yellow flowers that grew in patches and I would have picked a few if I would have been alone.<br/>
Travelling with Turo turned out to not be as quiet as I expected. He would start humming without a warning every few minutes, sometimes starting to dance to music that was not there. Occasionally he would ask me about the state of my health, to which I replied shortly that I was fine.<br/>
It was no lie, I actually did not feel a change within my body or aura, but I was still concerned. I could not imagine that the corruption that made physical contact with me would just disappear without any trace. This was not how energy of any kind operated, at least as far as I knew.<br/>
I wanted to find out more about this once I had a chance, another good reason to get to the settlements up north as quickly as possible.<br/>
My thoughts were interrupted by a tap on my shoulder.<br/>
„You haven’t told me your name yet.“<br/>
Indeed and I hoped that I would not have to. There were children’s stories talking about creatures of the beyond being able to steal ones soul if they knew their true name. I did not know if gods belonged to this undefined ‘beyond’, but I did not want to take chances.<br/>
Also names actually held a certain power when it came to mortal hierarchy, so I kept it close to my chest for now.<br/>
“I did not.” I answered dryly.<br/>
“Soooo… are you planning to?” I saw Turo’s smirking face appear in my peripheral vision and I decided to walk a faster to stay ahead of him.<br/>
“Geez, fine.” Turo easily kept up easily with his longer legs. “A ‘No’ would have been enough.”<br/>
We settled on a slower and more even pace as I began to look around for a place to settle down for the night.<br/>
“So, you wanna become a wizard?”<br/>
The question came out of nowhere, like most of the things he said, but this time his voice did not carry the mischievous tone it usually had. It sounded genuinely interested, which surprisingly irritated me more than most things he had said before.<br/>
I turned my head and saw that serious expression again, one that seemed out of place in this face.<br/>
“The settlements are brimming with wizards and you can do ice stuff. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out.”<br/>
“Hm.” So he was not completely simple minded, that was a small relief. People who did not use their head were the most annoying of all in my opinion.<br/>
I considered whether or not it would do harm to tell Turo about my plans and came to the conclusion that he might have information about the settlements that may be of use to me. “Yes, I do want to become the apprentice of a sorcerer myself and be of aid in their researches.”<br/>
“Sounds fun.” The genuinity came and went within the blink of an eye. He seemed bored as he glanced around the vicinity, not focused on anything in particular.<br/>
“Do you know any of them?” I asked. He might have heard a few names that may help me to get in contact faster.<br/>
“Nope, I’ve only been at the Plateaus in the early 6th Generation. Still listened when I was told not to get in contact with mortals.”<br/>
He was useless to me, once again. Repressing a sigh I asked: “Is there a reason why you are not supposed to do this?”<br/>
“Something, something, being effective in the background, something, something.” He shrugged.<br/>
This was fascinating. Was that the reason why it was so difficult to get a glimpse of a gods activity? I just wished that Turo would make less vague statements about this topic, but I also did not want to sound too interested or else he might close off completely.<br/>
I continued walking without another word and kept looking for a place to take a rest.</p><p>The next day I awoke with water droplets on my face, it had probably rained during the night. We found a small cave in one of the hills and decided that this was a decent place to stay.<br/>
I found Turo laying not far away from me, turned on the side snoring loudly. I had assumed that he did not need sleep in the first place.<br/>
As I finished my early meal and took out the map he finally rose from the wet grass, his already messy hair looking worse than before.<br/>
“Mornin’.” He murmured, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.<br/>
“You are finally awake.” I said. If he turned out to be sleeping in I would have left without him. Matters were urgent and a single day could make a difference between life and death.<br/>
He snickered as he lay back down on his back putting an arm over his head. “It’s too early.”<br/>
“No, you are late. Now get up and take a look at the map with me.”<br/>
With a groan he sat up again and moved next to me. I felt myself involuntarily tense up as I expected him to get to close to me once more, but I seemed to be lucky this morning.<br/>
“What’s up?”<br/>
“Have you been to a place called Eirenbor before?”<br/>
He shook his head, which resembled a vulture’s nest more than anything. “Nope, but I’ve heard about it. They harvest fruits to make top tier wine out of it. Why are you asking?”<br/>
“It seems to be the closest village from where we are. I need to buy more rations and get myself cleaned after living in the dirt for days now.”<br/>
My mouth twitched in disgust. I felt terrible, sticky with sweat and dust. Grass and leaves clung to my travel attire and I thought about getting them washed too. Even in Pieh where water was a rarity I was better taken care of than now.<br/>
“What’s wrong with getting a little dirty sometimes?” Turo grinned.<br/>
“Wounds have a higher infection rate if you do not clean yourself regularly.” I answered as I rolled the map up again and stored it in my bag. “Though I doubt that a god has to worry about something like this.”<br/>
Soon after we started moving again, I noticed the terrain changing, the hills becoming higher and the valleys deeper. As the sun reached its zenith we got up to the peak of a hill to get a higher vantage point.<br/>
I could make out what seems to be a collection of buildings at the foot of one far in the distance.<br/>
“Hey look, a village.” Turo said with a satisfied smile as he walked up beside me. “You think that’s Eirenbor?”<br/>
“Yes. Come on.”</p><p>It took us a few more hours and another rest to reach the village we had seen. Long before we arrived the hills around us stopped being overgrown by wild plants and instead turned into many fields of fruit.<br/>
They were incredibly colorful, more than I had seen in a lifetime. There were multiple shades of red, purple green and yellow that made the green hills seem like they were dotted with tiny spots. I saw more trees, bushes and vines than I thought existed on the entire world.<br/>
Fruit had been reserved for the wealthier people where I came from, because they could only be bought by travelling merchants and thus their prices were way out of my family’s league.<br/>
The people harvesting on the fields had tanned skin that was clearly exposed to the open sky often, though not as dark as the one of desert folk. Most of them wore simple clothing of rough earth colored fabric, some had leather straps on their hands or cloths on their heads.<br/>
We got a few glances as we passed by which I mostly ignored.<br/>
As I looked to the side where I expected Turo to be I saw nothing and was a bit shocked at first. Did he decide to leave after all?<br/>
“Here!” I heard a barely audible whisper behind my right shoulder and instinctively threw my arm around in defense as I did the first time I met him.<br/>
“You really have no chill, dude!” Turo huffed. “I’m gonna be your shadow for a bit, okay?”<br/>
The voice moved up my head as he talked and I shivered.<br/>
Only now I noticed a dim shadow travelling on the side of my body that was turned away from the sun. It was not immediately visible if one would not look for it specifically, but it moved with a slight irregularly as it adapted to the way that I moved.<br/>
“Stay away from me.” I hissed and tried brushing him off like an annoying insect.<br/>
“It’ll only be for a while! I’ll get a quick overview of the situation here and then I’ll be off, kay?”<br/>
No, not ‘kay’.  I kept walking as the stares from the people around me went more curious, some of the workers even walking a bit closer.<br/>
“Just do your thing, act as if I’m not there.”<br/>
Oh, I would.<br/>
“So, where do you wanna go?”<br/>
I ignored him.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. In which there is some awkward conversation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Again, Holly and Kyu. Great beta readers. Don't know what I'd do without them.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The village was definitely different than the one I grew up in. The houses were spread out over the entire area between the hills, connected by streets of pebbles that stretched into every direction.<br/>
Some buildings were small, some were big and sounds of animals I did not recognize came out of them. They had triangular shaped roofs and all of them without exception were painted in one of a variety of colors, shades of blue, red, yellow... White engravings ran along the walls, they were either thin lines or simple small geometric shapes.<br/>
Like in Stalrem there was constant chatter in the air, even though most people were in the process of harvesting or getting from one place to the other. I wondered how they got work done like that in the first place.<br/>
The air here was heavily sweet and fragrant, filled with the smell of grass, hay, flowers, fruits and livestock. It was strange and my head started to feel dizzy by all of those new sensory inputs.<br/>
“Hey, you good?” I heard a whisper from underneath my right ear and I grimaced.<br/>
I ignored Turo as he himself told me to, though he apparently already forgot that.<br/>
After I asked an elderly woman carrying a spicy smelling basket I knew where the nearest tavern was and headed in the direction.<br/>
I must be near the center of the village because the density of buildings increased slightly, which still meant that one had space for at least one great garden that were apparently used to plant even more crops.<br/>
Soon I laid my eyes on a two story house that was the brightest yellow I had ever seen. I needed to blink twice before my eyes adjusted to the sheer attack it was on my eyes, but I walked towards the front door nonetheless hoping it would be quieter in the tavern than out here.<br/>
Inside it was fortunately not as colorful: The walls were of white stone, dark wooden pillars held up the ceiling and the edge of the walls, spreading across the ceiling in more geometric patterns. The tables seemed sturdy and out of the same wood as the pillars. At the other side of the room I spotted a bar and decided to walk up to it.<br/>
There was a construct of shelves at the back side of the wall that grew around the bar table in a strange way that was clearly man made but also seemed like a natural construct. It was made of transparent glass and dark metal and filled to the brim with colorful glasses to drink from.<br/>
I could not help but stare at it, glass was rare in my home town.  I heard that Stalrem was supposed to have big glass blowing factory, but I had never seen it in person.<br/>
“Oh, hello there!”<br/>
I was startled as a girl walked through the door behind the bar and pulled me out of my thoughts. Her hair was in a heavy dark braid and she seemed to be not much older than I am.<br/>
“I haven’t seen you here before, you planning on staying?” Her voice rang in my ear painfully, most likely because they were already overstimulated by the noise outside before.<br/>
“Travelling.” I murmured and my eyes continued to trail over the almost artistic shapes of the glasses on display. I felt uncomfortable talking to another human and for the first time I missed having Turo beside me. He could easily take over a conversation like this, I was sure of it.<br/>
“Well, if you plan on staying the night then this is the best place to do that!” I saw her smile widen outside of my periphery. “Welcome to the Golden Bud! A room a night costs you fifty silver! Meals and rations for travel are on the house!”<br/>
I wanted to leave. I did not feel well.<br/>
“Come on, that’s a great price!” I felt Turo’s voice impossibly close to my ear now, most likely to not be heard by that girl but it took me all of my will to not swat at him again.<br/>
“Fine.” I pressed the word out between my teeth.<br/>
We exchanged one if my gold pieces against fifty silver and I noted that I only had one and a half gold pieces left now. I got worried that my money would not be enough for my journey.<br/>
The girl gave me a way too cheerful nod. “Alright, I’ll prepare a room for you right away! In the meantime you can enjoy a drink of your choice.”<br/>
“Water.”<br/>
“Water it is!”<br/>
She grabbed an intricate blue glass with swirls of black and white that somehow seemed to be moving as she moved it around. I saw a jug of water hovering out from beneath the shelf towards her.<br/>
Surprised I saw the glass being filled by using what I assumed to be her own energy.<br/>
She seemed to notice me staring and laughed a bit. “You haven’t seen a lot of casters on your travels?”<br/>
No, especially not ones that used their talent to work at a tavern.<br/>
“I can only lift so much with my powers, but it’s always a nice thing to give our regulars a bit of a show after a hard day of work.”<br/>
“Yeah, I can get behind that.” I heard Turo whispering in approvement.<br/>
Only now I noticed how her left arm was missing, it was easy to miss in this low lit interior.<br/>
She pushed the glass towards me. “Here you go! Your room will be ready in no time.”<br/>
With that the girl disappeared up a staircase to the side and I decided to sit down at a corner table. There was nobody else in here at this time of day and I sighed in relief as I felt my shoulders slump down.<br/>
“Whoa there, were you nervous?” I heard a giggle behind my head.<br/>
I took a frowning sip out of my glass.<br/>
“That girl was cute, don’t cha think?”<br/>
I did not answer.<br/>
“Maybe flirting would help you practice some conversation.”<br/>
It was such a pity that my powers could not make him shut up.<br/>
“What? Not into ladies?”<br/>
The glass hit the table louder than I anticipated. “I thought I was supposed to ignore you?”<br/>
I was glad nobody could hear us right now.<br/>
“I mean yeah, doesn’t mean I’ll make it easy for you.”<br/>
I hated him. I was very sure that I did not hate anyone before, but I hated him.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Tavern talk</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks to anyone who even reads my little brain child here! Hope you enjoy it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“And this is a bed!” Turo made a wide gesture as if he presented something extraordinary to me.<br/>
I knew what a bed was, obviously, it was pure impertinence of him to think that I did not.<br/>
I glared at him, though I doubted that he noticed as he already stepped towards the only window, commenting on the view. He had detached his shadow form from my body the second we stepped into this room and changed into his physical body as his eyes darted everywhere, taking in his environment in an abnormal speed.<br/>
He probably interpreted my surprised expression as my glance first fell at the bed as ignorance. The truth was that I indeed had not seen a bed like this before. I was used to multiple rags stacked onto each other to make a suited resting place, the more you owned the better.<br/>
This bed was framed in light wood and had something laying on it that resembled a very thick stuffed blanket.<br/>
The room I got was half the size the entirety my old home has been, it had a single bed with a nightstand, heavy sand colored curtains with embroidery and a thick wool carpet. I had put my cloak and bag on a table to the side and walked towards the bed.<br/>
I checked quickly to see if Turo was still distracted, before I carefully placed my hand on it.<br/>
It was so… soft.<br/>
Not only in the sensory sense, if I put pressure to the blanket my hand sunk down to its wrist, but this also applied to the room as well. From the warm light that flooded the room to the very light yellow and creamy white color scheme of the walls and furniture… It was hard to describe.<br/>
“Niiice!”<br/>
Turo rotated around his own axis twice. “What a cozy room! And for this low price, what a catch!” With a snort he added. “And there is only one bed.”<br/>
I frowned at him and crossed my arms. “Absolutely not.”<br/>
“Chill, I was joking! I’ll find a nice spot on the roof or whatever, I prefer the night sky anyway.”<br/>
He looked towards the window again. The yellow colors of the late afternoon slowly turned into the orange and red light of the sunset. “I’m gonna take a look around, are you coming too?”<br/>
“No.” I wanted to sort my bag first and rest my feet. They felt raw after wandering for so long.<br/>
“Fair enough. See ya later, don’t wait for me at the dinner table!”<br/>
With that he turned into a shadow again and swiftly left underneath the door gap without so much as a sound.<br/>
It took me a moment and a few breaths so realize that I was alone, finally.<br/>
For a second I contemplated taking my things and setting off right away, just to get away from this annoying god for good, but there was still a part of me wanting to document my experiences with him. I was unaware of alliances between gods and mortals ever happening before in history and I could not pass up on this opportunity if I was really so fortunate to be in this position.<br/>
I would just prefer Turo to not be as a nuisance as he was.<br/>
I stretched my legs and sighed before taking off my shoes. There were multiple blisters, I expected those to be there.<br/>
I attempted to cover the sore skin with a thin layer of ice, but it would not take hold. In fact, I did not even feel a single shift of my aura as I attempted to move it.<br/>
Bewildered I tried to freeze the blisters themselves, but nothing happened.<br/>
Frowning I turned towards the filled jug of water on the nightstand that the girl had left me. Raising one hand I focused on the molecules to solidify them. Nothing.<br/>
I leaned back and looked at my hands as I started to become worried.</p><p>That night I laid down after a bath and sending my clothes to be washed at a local laundry.<br/>
I woke up in temporary clothes I was provided by the tavern that were too big on my frame. The morning sun was illuminating the room and bathing everything in golden light.<br/>
I had missed dinner and thus felt my stomach demanding loudly for breakfast.<br/>
As I went down I found that the tavern was not terribly overrun at this time, there was only one older individual eating near the entrance. I chose the same isolated corner I sat at yesterday and stared at the wall trying to make a mental list of what to do today.<br/>
“Hello again!”<br/>
Ah, there was that girl.<br/>
She greeted me, this time carrying a small notebook in her hand with a floating pen following it. I gave it a glance, wondering how energy like this had to work to carry a physical object like that.<br/>
“Do you want to order anything?” Her voice was more subdued than yesterday, I quite appreciated this.<br/>
I assumed they had a lot of local foods I had never heard of before considering all the unknown fruits I had seen yesterday. “Something that is ordered by the majority of your customers, please.”<br/>
I got a long confused look from her and I turned my gaze towards the wall quickly.<br/>
“Well, I mean, we can do that. Alright.” The pen moved over the paper writing something down. “Just a moment, please!”<br/>
She went away and I heard a few words being exchanged in the back room.<br/>
I exhaled through my nose. I did not handle that well, apparently. Was my answer not specific enough?<br/>
At least I was alone again, although not for long.<br/>
The girl came back and placed a knife, fork and plate of cooked vegetables, eggs and meat in front of me. It looked plain, but smelled oddly sweet and spicy as if the cook used herbs unknown to me.<br/>
I was about to grab the fork as I noticed how she pushed back the chair on the other side of the table and sat down. She leaned forward on her elbow and looked at me with a glint in her eyes like she expected me to talk.<br/>
Suddenly I felt myself not being hungry anymore. I leaned back in my chair and glared.<br/>
“Where do you come from?”<br/>
I looked at her for a moment, then back at my plate. Was it normal for a waiter to do this with their customers?<br/>
I could just take my food and walk upstairs to eat in my room. She would not stop me from this action. Or I could leave it on the table to show her that I did not appreciate her behavior. Or I could-<br/>
“It’s just… we don’t get many visitors here. And with the current situation I was just curious about any outside news.” She leaned back herself now and stared at the table top with worry. “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t-…” She shook her head at herself and started getting up again.<br/>
This change of emotion was surprising to witness. I looked at my plate again and slowly took the fork. “Pieh.”<br/>
The girl stopped and looked back at me. “What was that? Pieh?”<br/>
“Hm.”<br/>
“Never heard of it, where is that?” She sat back down.<br/>
I would have a casual conversation with this stranger it seemed. Alright then.<br/>
“Near Stalrem.”<br/>
“Oh! This is far away! Where are you headed?”<br/>
I did not know if I wanted to answer that. “The situation you mentioned. Tell me about it.” I started to chew on a piece of vegetable. The taste was earthy, salty and burning with spice. This was very intense for my tongue that was used to bland dried foods.<br/>
The girl looked at me surprised. “What do you mean? Don’t you know?”<br/>
I stared back at her, waiting for her to continue.<br/>
“There is an illness going around, or a curse, I am not sure. Something is corrupting the land and people and making it sick. Until a year ago we got regular updates on the situation by the Mages Circle, but not anymore.” She sighed. “It was around the same time we stopped getting visits from the outside. A few people went off to search them out and ask what it going on, but…” She trailed off and stared at the wall. “I guess I was hoping you would have any news.”<br/>
I clenched the fork between my fingers. So the corruption was here too. “I do not have news.”<br/>
“It’s fine.” She said, but her face told me the opposite. “Sorry for bothering you with this.”<br/>
She stayed silent for a few moments and I had no idea what to do. This was the first time silence was not comfortable for me.<br/>
“What’s your name? I’m Jia.”<br/>
Ah. Nevermind.<br/>
I thought about asking her another question instead, but then thought better. “My destination are the mages settlements.”<br/>
She immediately perked up. “The settlements?! But those are so far up north, are you serious?”<br/>
“Hm.”<br/>
“What do you want there?”<br/>
“Learning.”<br/>
“From the Mages?” She suddenly eyed me with doubt. “I heard that it’s hard to get close to them, especially making them share anything about their information.”<br/>
I had not doubted my path from the second I left, but with this new knowledge I felt myself questioning my decision to become an apprentice. I wished I had not talked to this girl in the first place.<br/>
I was about to get up and go to my room despite my plate still being mostly untouched when all of the sudden there was a loud crash echoing around us and I turned around to see Turo grinning at me from across the room.<br/>
He strolled over at my table, while still somehow moving at almost running speed. “Hey ice boy, look I-… oh wow, you can actually talk to people! Listen, I found a cafe that sell strawberry cream cakes and I don’t want to sit on a table eating alone like a total loser so you’re coming with me!”<br/>
Both I and Jia had gaping mouths as Turo just grabbed my elbow without a warning and started to drag me towards the door.<br/>
I myself was too flabbergasted to resist in any way or form.<br/>
“Sorry lady, can you pack the left-overs up for later?” He yelled over his shoulder before turning to me. “Don’t worry, it’s my treat.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Strawberry Cream Cake</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Again, Holly and Kyu are amazing beta readers and I'll shout them out as often as I want.<br/>Also have fun reading this chapter, there will be more action soon, I promise!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“What is the meaning of this?” I hissed as Turo had managed to drag me into the morning sun and a short way down the street.<br/>The air was still cool from the night, but the bright morning light painting the sky blue promised that it would become much warmer later on.<br/>I attempted to tear my arm out of the god’s grip, but his hand was like an iron shackle and would not give way.<br/>He turned to me with an expression that was almost glowing in excitement. As I looked closer I noticed how his usually dark brown eyes had a subtle red tint to them. “We gotta talk, now. Have you got time?”<br/>I let out a dry laugh. “You ask me if I have time after forcefully taking me out of a conversation and away from my morning meal?” I was actually glad to not talk to this girl anymore, but I did not appreciate Turo’s sudden interruption in the slightest.<br/>He threw his head to the sky and let out an annoyed groan. “Fiine, go back and finish whatever you had going on, but-“<br/>“Oh no, this is over and done with.” I said straightening my posture. “But I do have my own plans and I will finish those first.”<br/>My companion did not seem content, but followed me nonetheless as I remembered the instructions of the way to the laundry and found my way there. He waited impatiently with crossed arms and a tapping foot in front of the building as I got my clothes and changed in a separate room.<br/>As I came outside again I turned to him and eyed him sternly. “Well then, lead the way.”</p><p>Turo and I arrived in front of a small establishment that had pastries for sale on the inside and square tables on the outside, shielded by a great yellow and white tent-like cloth that was put up on stakes around the area.<br/>My companion told me to sit down on one of the tables before he rushed off to buy the food he had promised.<br/>Me still being hungry I decided to accept it wordlessly and straightened by cloak before sitting down on a simple wooden chair.<br/>It only took a minute before Turo ran back out with two plates in his hands. The face-splitting grin on him made me unsure if I even wanted to hear about what he wanted to tell me in the first place.<br/>Slamming the two plates down, surprisingly without damaging them or the pastries he slumped down on the chair across me and practically shoved a fork into my face. “Dig in!”<br/>Taking it reluctantly I eyed my pastry. The cake Turo had mentioned before seemed to be built up on a circular base with a cream layer on top, another layer that looked like the base and more cream before the top was a crown of red berries with small seeds dotting them.<br/>It looked quite appetizing I had to admit.<br/>“You wanna stare at it the whole day? Come on, eat it or I’ll snatch it for myself!”<br/>Ignoring this pushy behavior I tried a bite and found myself enjoying how it was not too sweet but still fruity.<br/>“You like it??”<br/>Turo’s cake was already half gone.<br/>I have never eaten something as this before in my life. I exhaled slowly through my nose, I had not noticed how I had held my breath. “It is adequate.”<br/>After this we ate in relative silence, I took my time while Turo almost choked three times by shoving the fork too far down his throat and after that tapping his feet impatiently as he waited for me to finish.<br/>I set my fork aside. “Well?”<br/>As if being bitten by a snake Turo jumped up in his chair and slammed his elbows down on the table. “Okay, okay! So I went around a bit yesterday, listening to people talk, town’s rumors and stuff… And you won’t BELIEVE what I heard!”<br/>He stared at me as if he expected me to guess his thoughts. <br/>I raised an eyebrow.<br/>“Ugh, you’re no fun! Anyway, there is a rumor about a strange creature in the woods nearby that is sometimes seen wandering the fields, howling and scaring the shit out of people!”<br/>I sighed. “I do not see what this has to do with-“<br/>“It always leaves behind a trail of black sludge that makes people sick!”<br/>Oh. “Are you implying that you want to seek this creature out?” I asked with a frown. We really had no time for heroic actions while the very same substance might eat away on my own energy as we spoke.<br/>Turo raised his hands as if he wanted to stop me. “Listen, I know this does not sound very tempting, but I have a solid reason!”<br/>“I am listening.” For now at least.<br/>“I’ve watched corrupted creatures for a while now and I saw how the corruption of one has effects on the corruption of another. Amplifying it or whatever.” Turo talked while using gestures to explain. “And we don’t know how this stuff has an effect on you, so bringing you two together-“<br/>“Out of the question.” This idea was absolutely harebrained, an unnecessary risk and a waste of time. “There are more important-“<br/>“This is fool proof, I swear!” He still tried to convince me. “Those monsters are small fries for me, you won’t be in any danger at all! Also we can find out more about what is different about you and that might help those smarty-pants wizards out later if they find a cure for this stuff!”<br/>I leaned back in my chair and glared back at him. I still noticed a hint of red in his eyes as he stared back pleadingly. Was he using his powers to convince me?<br/>Noticing how unimpressed I was Turo’s head sunk in defeat. “Okay… okay. There’s something else.”<br/>He looked back at me and the reddish tint was gone. “Me being… me means that I have some…duties.” He spoke the word like it was filth on his tongue. “I gotta protect Amnrena from bad stuff or whatever. So beating the crap out of a corrupted monster like that on our way is an awesome opportunity to show-“<br/>He stopped. His brows were furrowed and he stared past my face into the distance as if his mind was at some place else.<br/>After a moment he sighed. “Listen, ice-boy. We can both learn from that sort of thing, so can’t we just do that? It’s like a win-win.”<br/>I crossed my arms as I studied his behavior carefully. <br/>For another moment there was silence.<br/>“The cake was a bribe.”<br/>Turo choked. “I-… I mean, I wouldn’t call it that…”<br/>“Well.” I started. “What if the creature actually has an effect on my corruption and worsens the situation?”<br/>“We won’t take it that far! We just get you as close as you have to and then I’ll take care of the rest. I swear I will-“<br/>“Fine.”<br/>He stops mid-talking. “Wait, really?”<br/>“Yes, but only if-“<br/>Turo jumps up, almost knocking over the table between us and grabs me by the shoulders. “OH MY GOSH, YES! I can’t believe you actually agreed, this will be so badass!” He yelled while shaking my shoulders violently.<br/>He only stopped to make sweeping gestures while loudly talking to himself. “You’ll be like crackle-crackle, freezing stuff up and I’ll be like pew pew and bzzzzzt and the creature goes auughhhhhhhh and there will be so many cheers! ‘Oh Turo, you are so amazing and cool, I wanna be like you!’ and I’ll be like ‘Do not worry, lowly citizen, but you are totally right!’ and there are masses shouting ‘Turo, Turo, Turo!’”<br/>I noticed the people passing by staring at us and I immediately regretted my decision.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Corrupted fields</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you guys for reading! I can already tell you that the chapter after this has some action!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was midday when we followed a dirt path up a hill towards a field where the corrupted creature was supposedly seen last. After I picked up the bag from my room and refilled my rations we immediately set out to get this quest over with.<br/>
The sun burned brightly in the cloudless sky and even though it was not as harsh as in the desert I found myself missing the cold soaking rain I knew from spending my first night out in the open.<br/>
Turo did not seem to mind it in the slightest, half walking half skipping ahead with his hands brushing the tips of the high grass surrounding us while humming a song I did not know.<br/>
Even though he promised that I did not need to fight this creature we were seeking out I fully prepared myself for things to go wrong. If this would be anything like the situation within the Feri clan then we could not foresee the actions of a corrupted being, no matter how careful we would be.<br/>
I did not tell the god that my powers stopped working back at the tavern, it made me feel small and sick.<br/>
Holding back a sigh I looked down at my hands and spread my fingers, thinking about the sensation of using my energy. My eyes widened as small cold crystals started growing in my palms without any issue whatsoever.<br/>
“What…?”<br/>
Turo heard me and turned towards me with a curious expression. “What is it?” He looked at my hands and gave me one of his usual grins. “Hey I was meaning to ask you before, but can you make ice cream?”<br/>
I frowned at him. “What?”<br/>
“You know, ice cream! If we mashed some fruit and mixed it with your ice-…” He stopped himself. “Wait no, we’d need milk for that, nevermind.”<br/>
Once again I had no idea what he was talking about.</p><p>“Slushie!!”<br/>
Turo halted mid-walk, eyes gleaming. “We need no milk for that! Man, we gotta make some later! This will be great!”<br/>
I stopped next to him and needed to close my eyes for a second. I could not believe how a god could act like a child, but alas here we were. “Can we concentrate on the matter at hand, Turo?”<br/>
“Yeah, if we make slushie later!”<br/>
I had no idea what that was. “Sure, we will. But for now, please-“<br/>
We reached the field he had mentioned earlier at the foot of a tall hill. It seemed to stretch towards the horizon infinitely, but we immediately saw a crowd of maybe ten people in one spot pulling small wagons and buckets to and from the field.<br/>
The short stems of an unknown crop bristled against my cloak as we moved closer and we saw that they transported a black substance away from the spot, possibly in an attempt to clean it up.<br/>
“Yeah, that won’t work.” Turo said to me with crossed arms. “Nothing grows where this shit touches the ground. Let’s just hope for their sake that they don’t touch it themselves.” As he spoke I felt his intense aura retracting to subtle background noise, similar to the time I witnessed it at the Feri’s tent.<br/>
Before I could reply he already raised an arm to wave while shouting loudly. “Hello, people! What’s up?”<br/>
Every single head turned and I wanted to turn around and leave right away.<br/>
“Hello?”<br/>
A stocky middle aged woman with a tanned face walked up to us, a dirty bucket in one hand. “How can I help you?” She eyed us with a tired skeptical expression.<br/>
“Is that your field?” Turo asked with both hands in the pockets of his pants.<br/>
“No, it belongs to old Etga.”<br/>
“Me and my buddy heard that some monster caused this mess you’re dealing with now. We wanna kill it. Can you tell me where it ran off to?”<br/>
For a moment the woman stood there with a gaping mouth as she looked at Turo in disbelief.<br/>
I did too. We were no ‘buddies’, possibly temporary allies at best.<br/>
“Um, I mean no offence young man, but you both don’t seem the fighting types and even our best guards couldn’t do anything about this beast.”<br/>
He waved it off. “Oh don’t worry, we killed plenty before! I’m a sort of mercenary and my buddy here a mage in the making. We have our ways.”<br/>
Turo talked with such confidence that I almost believed him myself if I would not know any better. His smile apparently won the woman over, because her eyes lit up happily and she motioned us towards a middle aged man closer to the corrupted spot.<br/>
I winced as the familiar stench hit my nose and left a burning sensation in my mouth.<br/>
“Etga!” The woman called out.<br/>
An elderly man with short reddish gray hair looked up as he was in the middle of shoveling the corruption into a bucket. Setting his tools aside he stretched his back and moved over slowly. “Yes, Elle?”<br/>
“He has seen the monster when it came through here.” She said to us before turning to the man again. “Those two young men want to take care of your issue, can you tell them what you saw that night?”<br/>
The man seemed surprised and looked us up and down again, exactly like that woman did before. If we had to convince every single person on this field that we could deal with this creature then we’d be here tomorrow still.<br/>
“Please.” I said with urgency in my voice.<br/>
He blinked. “If you say so… It was maybe three nights before… or was it five? Um, maybe four…”<br/>
“We are on a schedule here.” I reminded him in a harsher tone than intended.<br/>
Turo snickered and I shot him an annoyed glance.<br/>
“Alright, alright! The young people these days, dear gods…” The man scratched his scruffy chin. “In the middle of the night I woke up hearing something outside… it sounded like a song being played with instruments, like little jingles and tinkles. We don’t have many musicians here, so hearing this out here on a field was strange. And then there were steps…”<br/>
“How did the steps sound like?” I asked.<br/>
“Heavy, it was a big beast, but it did not sound like walking.” He explained. His arms wrapped around himself. “And then I took my lantern and went outside to see…”<br/>
“What was it?” Turo asked with an interested voice.<br/>
“I did not see it well, I wasn’t close enough. But it stood upright and… almost looked like a person. It was strange, like it blended into the night…”<br/>
“A person?” Turo took a step forward towards the man, looking intense. I could sense a quick flare up in his energy, before he got it back under control.<br/>
The man took a step back, confused. “Um, yes and no. It moved in a way I had never seen before and its arms… were stretched out to both sides, but something was off about them. And there were those howls in a high voice, I don’t…I don’t know what, but… I’m sorry.” His shoulders were shaking and he looked to the ground, distressed.<br/>
“It’s fine, Etga.” The woman puts an arm around him before she looked at us with a furrowed brow. “Is this enough information for you?”<br/>
“Which direction did it go?” Turo asked.<br/>
With an unsteady arm the man pointed east.<br/>
“Okay, thanks! Off we go, ice boy, come on!”<br/>
Without another word he turned off and I was left looking at the two people blankly before hurrying after him.<br/>
While walking Turo turned back and shouted “Oh yeah, and don’t touch that slimy stuff! It’s not good for you!” before turning back and looking at me with a sly grin. “We wouldn’t want to take care of multiple of these, would we?”<br/>
My jaw clenched.</p><p>We were walking east until the evening, rarely taking breaks and mostly keeping watch for anything that seemed like a hiding place of a big creature.<br/>
Turo walked ahead quickly, way too excited for my liking. I did not enjoy the thought of fighting a dangerous creature in the slightest, though he did not seem to share this mindset.<br/>
“Have you heard of such a creature before?” I asked trying to keep up with him.<br/>
“I dunno. I’ve seen or heard of many corrupted humanoids, could be anything really.”<br/>
A thought crossed my mind and I frowned. “You said that those monsters were easy game for you, but you also told me that you have no control over the corruption itself. How do you intend to-“<br/>
“You killed one of those yourself. You know it’s possible.” Turo answered without looking at me.<br/>
I indeed did, however only because this Feri was still not entirely consumed by its corruption yet.<br/>
Unsure of what to answer I simply said “Yes.”<br/>
Seemingly satisfied the god continued walking faster.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. The Dancer</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter needs a trigger warning for mild gore. Have fun reading!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The night fell as we arrived at a forest that had higher trees than any I had ever seen before. They were impressive, at least twice the size as the ones on the mountains, but each of them had a bark with an ashen tint and crowns devoid of leaves.<br/>
This forest was dead, probably for a long time.<br/>
The hills were lower than the ones at Eirenbor, which made our walk more pleasant than before.<br/>
The ground was covered in ash with occasional puddles of the dark ichor, strongly hinting at the beast we were pursuing living in this area.<br/>
My stomach turned as I tried finding a more or less sheltered spot to settle down on, the air reeked of charred matter and the pungent smell of the corruption.<br/>
“What happened here?” I wondered. Finding a ruined place such as this in the middle of all this green fertile land was unsettling to say the least.<br/>
“Maybe a forest fire attracting a corrupted monster?” Turo mused. “Or it was the monster setting a fire itself?”<br/>
I remembered what he had said on the field, with nothing growing where the mass touched the ground. “Does it keep this place from regenerating?”<br/>
“Yup, pretty sure. It’s no wonder it is here though, corruption loves misery. It’s like…” Turo leaned against a tree. “…a bear and honey. Can’t resist that stuff once it sniffs it out.”<br/>
It was unsure if this was a fitting metaphor for this situation.<br/>
Without further ado we found a relatively ash-free spot next to a tree that would need three people to encircle it with their arms and sat down leaning against its trunk, waiting. I could not sense a drop of water within it, which made me worry. A dry environment would make me using my powers considerably more difficult.<br/>
Turo said that I could sleep if I wanted to, but I knew I would not get a second of rest this night. This, and I did not trust my companion’s ability to stay focused on the task enough to warn me in time if the beast indeed came for us.<br/>
I wrapped my cloak tighter around my body as the sun set and the cold of the night settled in. In complete darkness I closed my eyes and attempted to listen for even the smallest sounds.<br/>
A red glow accompanied with the static pressure of energy made me open them again and I glared at Turo.<br/>
He had lit up his aura like a brazier illuminating everything within a ten feet radius.<br/>
“Stop it.” I hissed as quietly as I could.<br/>
Turo blinked. “Why, we can see everything like this!”<br/>
“And everything can see us, now shut it off!”<br/>
With an annoyed groan it went dark again.<br/>
“I thought luring this monster in was the plan.”<br/>
“Not by setting up a glowing mark in the middle of dead lands!”<br/>
“So we won’t let it come to us?”<br/>
“No! It is a huge creature, we will listen for it and then ambush it ourselves!”<br/>
He huffed. “You’re complicated.”<br/>
“And you are an idiot!”<br/>
I have admittedly not met many people in the fifteen years of my life, but not a single one has managed to infuriate me as much as this god.<br/>
Luckily he went quiet after this so we could continue to concentrate on our auditory watch.</p><p>The loud crack of dry wood echoing in the distance had me perk up and listen more intently into the night.<br/>
Another one soon followed, closer this time.<br/>
“Did you hear that?” Turo’s whisper was directly in my ear and I flinched.<br/>
“Of course I did.”<br/>
“Should I make light again? We can’t find it if we don’t see anything.”<br/>
I exhaled through my nose. He was right, our chances would be low in utter darkness. “Alright, but make it as subtle as possible.”<br/>
Turo’s aura lit up again, this time a low glow that barely illuminated up the trees around us and made us see only their faint crooked silhouettes. We both got up and looked around, trying to make out the direction the sound had been coming from.<br/>
“Do you see anything?” I asked quietly, my voice sounding impossibly loud still in this dead silence.<br/>
“No, do you sense anything?”<br/>
“No.”<br/>
The silence that followed was so tense I could swear I felt it crawling into my body and clinging to my bones. Nothing moved, but felt unsafe and I wished nothing more than for something to happen.<br/>
Suddenly I felt a churning sensation within me, hitting me out of nowhere and I nearly toppled over pressing my fists to my chest.<br/>
I had once eaten spoiled food as a young child and I remembered the feeling of my stomach turning upside down and thinking it would rip apart on the inside. This felt the same, but not located in my body.<br/>
Something was wrong.<br/>
An ear numbing crack to our right made my and Turo’s head snap around in unison as something broke through the tree line. Ancient dead trees were ripped out of the ground with trunk and roots and sent flying all around us as the burning smell in the air became overwhelming and nearly made me throw up.<br/>
Trying to ignore the rising pain within me I threw myself to the side, to avoid getting hit by rocks and rubble.<br/>
I spotted Turo on the other side of a broad swath on the ground that was torn by one of the trees and still clutching my chest I tried to see what kind of creature we dealt with in the low light he was still emitting.<br/>
At first I saw the shape of a person, nearly as tall as the trees we were under with both arms stretched out to its sides while seemingly looking upwards.<br/>
Then I noticed that its neck was just a headless stump. And then I saw how its arms were not attached by the shoulders, but floating next to its torso as if they had been cut off. And its hands… where were the hands?<br/>
“WHAT THE FUCK!” Turo exclaimed.<br/>
I wholeheartedly agreed.<br/>
The creature seemed to stand there for a moment, like a statue frozen in position.<br/>
I looked at it in confusion before glancing to Turo who seemed to be just as bewildered. He intensified the light of his aura and I could see this creature in more detail.<br/>
Its skin was mostly blackened, charred even with spots of red flesh occasionally peaking through. It in fact had no hands at all, but instead the dark substance of the corruption covering the end of its arms. I could not bear looking at the neck in more detail.<br/>
“This is disgusting.” I murmured, taking multiple steps back as I covered my mouth. The terrible smell in the air mixed with the one of burned flesh.<br/>
The creature’s skin sometimes emitted smoke or a hot glow, as if it was in the process of burning.<br/>
Why did it not do anything? Was it not about to attack?<br/>
I took the opportunity and sensed within myself trying to determine where exactly the corruption with me manifested. I did not feel it anywhere in my limbs or torso, but when I focused on my chest it was there, but also not. It was deeper. Too deep.<br/>
I swallowed.<br/>
My thoughts were interrupted by music.<br/>
Like the old man had told us before there were high clinking tunes, fragile and thin, drifting in the air seemingly without a source, sounding both soothing and unsettling.<br/>
It had been steadily building up in volume and at the point I became aware of it I could already feel its influence piercing into my mind.<br/>
There was a pulse behind my ears and a creeping sensation before my head exploded in pain.<br/>
Screams echoed through the dead woods, I was not sure if they were entirely my own, as my knees gave and I pressed my hands against my forehead and clawing at it with any strength I could muster.<br/>
I wanted it gone.<br/>
I needed to tear it out with my bare hands.<br/>
I would die.<br/>
I would die.<br/>
“Fuck, ice boy! Ice boy!!!”<br/>
Hearing the ridiculous nickname I got control over my consciousness again and perked up.<br/>
Between me and Turo, who’s red glowing aura was now filled with swirling particles like thick smoke, was the creature turning in circles in a macabre dance on delicate legs while its upper torso cringed and shook violently.<br/>
Its arms swung around, tearing down any remaining trees in the vicinity and sending them flying.<br/>
Out of its open wounds of the shoulders and neck oozed the black ichor like streams, creating puddles on the ground surrounding it while it screamed in such a primal, guttural way I was unaware any creature in this world being able to replicate it.<br/>
My inside churned once more, this time within my physical body.<br/>
I felt a thick sensation burning in my neck as it travelled up my throat and I had to involuntarily gag and cough.<br/>
I covered my mouth with one hand and spat something out. As I looked into my hand there were small dark splotches in my palm.<br/>
A seething hot wave traveled down my spine as I looked up to Turo who seemed to be in the process of directing his aura at the beast’s limbs.<br/>
There a thin black line dripping down his chin.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I sketched the fight with the dancing creature https://fairyofsomething.tumblr.com/post/625709056969113600/a-rough-sketch-of-astas-lullaby-chapter-11-with</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Left in the Dark</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Still TW for mild gore, but we also have some more action which is fun! I hope you like it!<br/>Again I thank Holly and Kyu for looking over my chapters to eradicate bad grammar and crippling doubt.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Turo had his aura stretched out far enough to engulf the corrupted creature and both its floating arms seemed to be grappled by the smoke-like particles that appeared to be part of his energy.<br/>
It writhed and let out a horrific series of screeches and sobs as it attempted to tear away, only to stumble back and lose whatever attachment existed between its torso and the limbs.<br/>
As it stood there on two legs, bent over and heaving as if it was breathing heavily I decided to back off into what was left of a tree line and used my scarce cover to also extend my aura towards it.<br/>
I barely managed to reach the beast and attempted to concentrate through the still pulsing pain that came from my chest and throat. I analyzed the monster as thoroughly as I could in this tense situation.<br/>
My stomach dropped the moment I realized that there was not a single part of its body that still carried water like a healthy living organism.<br/>
Whatever this creature was before the corruption got to it, it was old. Probably as old as some of the fabled legendary beasts from Generations ago, which meant that its aura might have been strong enough for the corruption to completely overtake it without killing it.<br/>
I could say with certainty that this thing was in a league of its own and me even being in the same environment as it put me into mortal danger.<br/>
Retreating further behind the trees I wondered if even a god such as Turo could defeat it.<br/>
Speaking of which, he started charging at the creature running at a speed that would possibly tear a mortals legs asunder.<br/>
The dark particles thickened until they enveloped his form and he used his momentum to jump in the air, growing three times his physical size and landing on the creature with his legs on its chest and two shadowy hands on its shoulders.<br/>
A red glow appeared from somewhere beneath the shadows and pushed from his hands directly into the creature.<br/>
What was he trying to do? Did he attempt to gain control by forcing his energy into the monsters physical body? Or was he trying to tear it apart from the inside?<br/>
I found myself curious on how Turo’s powers worked, but this was not the right moment for studies.<br/>
The creature shook and the high pitched music in the air started to swell.<br/>
I saw him flinching, but not letting go.<br/>
Still under the grapple of the god the beast started to turn around its own axis, again and again while gaining up speed.<br/>
With one swift kick of its legs the creature pushed Turo off, who still in his tall form flew through the air backwards and crashing into the trees on the opposite of the clearing, disappearing out of sight under the earth shaking sounds of splintering wood.<br/>
My thoughts were racing trying to find a solution for this issue.<br/>
I could not fight this being, at least not in the way I defeated previous foes.<br/>
I could attempt to draw water from the air or ground, though I had not tried this method before and this dead forest was extremely dry.<br/>
Also attacking the monster would draw its attention to me and I feared I would not stand a second against it in battle.<br/>
Damned be Turo with his rash idea to search this corrupted creature out! He waved it off as if he could defeat it with the twitch of his finger! If I ended up dying because of him I would find ways to come back to make him regret it.<br/>
My back pressed against the tree and I saw if I could cover myself with ice as a thin protective shell. I did this before with just my hands and so I stretched my arms out in front of me trying to focus.<br/>
At first nothing happened and I feared that whatever fire had ravaged this forest long ago had drawn every bit of moisture from the air, but then I noticed the faintest layer settling on my skin and shoulders.<br/>
This was better than nothing.<br/>
I heard loud steps from the direction of the monster and as I turned I saw it coming towards me. It was not running, but dancing with light erratic steps that were way faster than I expected.<br/>
My eyes widened as I quickly dodged and ran deeper into the woods on the opposite side of the clearing where Turo was thrown into.<br/>
The tree I was just hiding behind seconds ago was in mere splinters.<br/>
I ran blindly into the forest without the light of the god’s aura, only hearing the ear numbing sounds of the creature waltzing through the charred trees behind me mixed with a racing heart beat in my ears.<br/>
My arms were still stretched out to catch me if I was about to run into anything in my way, but I was too slow still.<br/>
I was never this afraid in my life, but fear did not stop me from having an idea.<br/>
I stretched out my aura, as far as I could into all directions like a bubble surrounding me. I could maybe make no light, but I tried something else.<br/>
The thin layer of ice on me broke into small pieces and I attempted to control them without having to be in physical contact to them.<br/>
Slowly they lifted from my arms into the air and I still managed to sense them similarly to me sensing the water within a tree without seeing it.<br/>
Good, this could work.<br/>
Crushing them further into cold dust I spread them within my aura similar to the shadowed particles I had seen in Turo’s and suddenly I had a sense of my surroundings.<br/>
The moment any particle hit a tree trunk or a rock I knew it and could avoid it.<br/>
With new found confidence I started running at full speed, no longer having to feel any obstacles coming with my bare hands.<br/>
The creature was still pursuing me and I gritted my teeth, determined to keep going as far as I had to.<br/>
The darkness had swallowed me whole, I might as well had been blind.<br/>
Nevertheless, this would not be my last day alive.<br/>
I kept going, run, dodge, run, duck, jump, run…<br/>
I did not know how long this went on for, my lungs were burning and feet went numb when suddenly there was another crash echoing louder than anything before and red light flooded the area from somewhere behind me.<br/>
I turned around to see Turo in his giant shadow form, almost as tall as I had first seen him in the desert.<br/>
Pushing the monster aside and dashing towards me with piercing red eyes, a vaguely human form of shadows and ash whirling up around his feet he looked as terrifying as the monster itself.<br/>
I threw myself to the side to get out of his way immediately.<br/>
Though as he ran past me in long strides he grabbed me with one hand and kept going.<br/>
I was shaken up and down by his enormous movements as the hand nearly encased me. I squinted and tried to turn my face away from the shadows that created his limbs and were swirling into my face, making me cough.<br/>
“Okay, ice-boy. New plan.” Turo’s voice thundered, distorted and echoing in various pitches. “We get the heck away from here.”<br/>
My nostrils were burning as I tried to cling with both arms to one of his fingers that felt strangely as if it existed while still not being entirely physical.<br/>
“Fine.” I choked out.<br/>
With that his strides became longer, thumping loudly through the night as we avoided the monster that was following us persistently.<br/>
Its unsettling music still tinkled within my head and I started feeling dizzy by the wind hitting me from the front. My hands, the only bare skin that was in contact with the giant form, started to prickle and go numb from contact.<br/>
I looked back, leaning slightly over the side of Turo’s hand. “It is still behind us.”<br/>
“Not for long!” He bellowed and jumped straight up into the air.<br/>
I clung to his hand with all of my remaining strength as he twisted in the air and as the monster caught up to us he delivered a kick with both his legs to its chest.<br/>
The blow must have been charged with energy, because a shock wave made the branches of the trees shake violently.<br/>
The creature was sent back flying in a similar fashion of how it happened to Turo before and it vanished into the darkness outside of his aura’s light.<br/>
Using the momentum the god landed on both of his feet and kept running, huffing and breathing heavily.<br/>
I sunk down in his palm as I felt my limbs shaking with all of the stress and strain of the night coming  down on me. I feared that I would not stand on straight legs the moment I would be let down.<br/>
Suddenly Turo started howling with laughter and I looked up to find a mad grin above me, illuminated by a glow that made it seem like a red crooked line was splitting his face.<br/>
He threw his head back as his entire body started to shake with glee.<br/>
“HAHAHA! YOU SEE THAT?? SUCK IT, ASPHERE!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Names and Questions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks to Holly for proof reading this chapter once again!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The night went on.<br/>
After Turo delivered the final blow to the monster it had been silent around us, save for the thumping sound his giant feet made on the ground while running.<br/>
Every step shook through me as I was half laying half sitting in his palm and looking up at the sky with haunting clouds illuminated by half a moon while being chased by the wind.<br/>
I felt like an empty husk of a person, my arms and legs limp and freezing cold. My energy reacted positively to the latter, despite the chance that I might get sick from exposure.<br/>
I pulled up my knees and did my best to not fall asleep just yet.</p><p>After a while Turo’s steps slowed down until his feet were almost being dragged behind him. His enormous breaths became heavier and movements irregular.<br/>
A few moments after the shadowed particles creating his form dissolved in the air and I fell.<br/>
At some point we must have crossed over to the fertile parts of the Shining Meadows again, because I landed on soft grass which lessened the impact.<br/>
Still, the breath left my lungs and I needed a second to regain it.<br/>
I stayed there laying on my back, my limbs were too heavy to move as I expected before and I turned my head to look over to Turo.<br/>
He was not too far away from me on his stomach, transformed back into his humanoid form. In the diminishing light that his aura still radiated I saw him drenched in the dark ichor, coughing.<br/>
With effort he heaved his body up enough to flip onto his back and stayed like this, looking up with his arms stretched to the side.<br/>
“Welp.” With a gurgling chuckle he glanced back at me. ”You good over there?”<br/>
He seemed as exhausted as I was, we might as well stayed here until morning came. I was not content with being out in the open like this, but there was nothing to be done about this now.<br/>
“No.”<br/>
“Hey, do you think the mortal danger back there was considered bonding time?”<br/>
I did not answer, I had my eyes closed trying to rest.<br/>
Turo spat out some of the corruption through his mouth. “Maybe even enough bonding for you to tell me your name now?”<br/>
After everything that happened this was the first thought that crossed his mind?!<br/>
I let out a sigh. “You are impossible.”<br/>
“I am improbable.”<br/>
My eyes opened just to shoot him a glare, at which he just laughed.<br/>
“You know what, ice-boy? You are actually funny!” A series of giggles that might have been more stress relief than amusement followed. “Unintentionally funny, but still!”<br/>
I rolled my eyes and looked back at the restless skies above. I was too tired to be annoyed with him for once.<br/>
“Ameras Astas Komeras.”<br/>
“Huh?” Turo lifted his head a little with an expression of genuine surprise. ”Triple name?”<br/>
“Yes. My family must have been nobility at one point in the past, we still have the birth right of a triple name status.” I murmured.<br/>
My parents never told me anything about our lineage and I did not know any of my relatives, but it was not difficult for me to put two and two together.<br/>
The more names one had the right to claim, the higher their family’s status was in society.<br/>
Which name an individual of such a family could be called depended on their personal status they had achieved throughout their life, generally by rising in social ranks.<br/>
“So...You’re Ameras?” The Turo asked.<br/>
I thought carefully about this.<br/>
I had been called by my first name my entire life because of my parents only working in the coal mines. Becoming an apprentice of a great mage however I could probably rise up my status enough to be called by my second name.<br/>
“Astas.”<br/>
“Astas, huh?” Turo mused. “That’s old Amnrenian.”<br/>
Now I was the one being surprised. “It is?”<br/>
“Yeah, your whole name is I think. It means…” He stopped talking and his expression crunched up as if he tried to remember something difficult. “Uuuh, wait a sec… um.”<br/>
After a few moments of intellectual struggle he gave up. “Aw man, translating from Amnrenian into Common is not as easy as the other way around.”<br/>
After this my mind was too awake thinking about what Turo had told me to give into my exhaustion.<br/>
“May I ask you one thing in return?”<br/>
He turned his head again. “Sure, shoot.”<br/>
“How can a god become corrupted?”<br/>
A long silence followed.<br/>
In the low glow I saw multiple emotions wash over Turo’s face at once before he turned to the side, showing me his back.<br/>
“I dunno.”<br/>
"But you must know?"<br/>
His answer was a shrug of his shoulders.<br/>
I decided that this topic was too important to be let go. “You and your kin are the most powerful beings in this world, how is it even possible for you to become corrupted?”<br/>
A quieter “I dunno.” was all I got for an answer.<br/>
I sighed again and turned my gaze towards the clouds. “I think I understand now.”<br/>
His head turned slightly, not looking at me but I knew I had his attention.<br/>
“You are seeking a cure for your own condition. It is obvious that you would not do this out of the goodness of your heart, but that is only natural I assume.”<br/>
There was a flare up of his energy, a weak one compared to the ones I had felt from him before.<br/>
“You’re wrong, Astas. I don’t give a shit about what happens to me.”<br/>
I frowned. “Then why are you so intent on finding a cure?”<br/>
I did not get an answer after a minute.<br/>
I did not get an answer after ten minutes either.<br/>
I accepted that the conversation had ended and I closed my eyes to get sleep.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Destruction</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Another thanks to Holly for beta reading this chapter!<br/>Hope you have fun reading!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first morning light painted our surroundings in a dark grey color palette when my eyes opened and I immediately sat up with a feeling of dread hanging over me. My legs still felt like they were about to fall off if I would put any weight on them.<br/>
Not far away from me Turo already got up unsteadily while still being covered in dark ichor. The ground he had been laying on was dead and the grass crumpled and brown.<br/>
He was swaying back and forth a bit as he looked into the same direction that I did.<br/>
From the tree line were steps coming, heavy, quick and erratic. It was further away still, but we both knew immediately what it was.<br/>
I held my breath.<br/>
Ripping apart anything in its path was the monster from last night, waltzing forward with steps that were more violent, more agitated than anything we had seen before. It moved in a straight line towards the green meadows, almost as if it had a purpose.<br/>
We were not directly in its path and it moved past us seemingly without noticing and vanished behind a hill.<br/>
For a second I was relieved, but then I realized what this meant.<br/>
“Eirenbor.”</p><p>The way back took twice as long, if not longer.<br/>
We were both barely rested and it was difficult to set a foot before the other. Sometimes Turo had a coughing fit, which meant that that he had to stop for a few minutes until he got his breath back.<br/>
There was no additional ichor coming up though, I assumed that our bodies slowly recovered from our encounter with the monster. It was exactly as Turo had said: Its corruption had affected ours.<br/>
Any dark mass I had coughed up before had already disappeared, presumably while I was asleep.<br/>
The god’s corruption still clung to his skin and clothes and there was not even a hint of his usual obnoxious grin on his face. His brows were furrowed in a stubborn expression as he attempted to walk normally, which only made him stumble over his own feet quite a few times.<br/>
I rolled my eyes at it, but did not comment.<br/>
When I took out a ration to eat we would just keep moving, if we sat down there might have been a possibility of us not being able to get up again any time soon.<br/>
It was late afternoon when we arrived at the village.<br/>
From afar we could already see buildings in ruin with walls fallen in and roofs on fire.<br/>
Many fields had been plowed through viciously with crops left and right wilted and dead. We could see thick trails of corruption leading from one place to the next, making it easy to follow the trail of destruction.<br/>
There was not a single person in sight, alive or not, but somewhere in the distance were shouts and the sound of stone breaking.<br/>
Most living people most likely hid away in their homes, or what was left of it.<br/>
I heard the thumping of my heart in my ears as we looked down at this scene. Somewhere behind us rolled thunder in the distance, indicating an incoming storm. Maybe it would put out the fires.<br/>
I glanced to the side at Turo, who carried a blank unmoving expression.<br/>
Folding my hands in front of my stomach I exhaled slowly and closed my eyes.<br/>
Without looking back I turned north and walked away.</p><p>“H-Hey! Wait up!”<br/>
I stopped and turned around to see Turo running up behind me, almost stumbling over his feet a few times. The setting sun illuminated him from the side, leaving half of his still roughed up and filthy appearance in the shadows.<br/>
“So you have decided to follow me after all.” I stated as a matter of fact. I had been wondering what had taken him so long.<br/>
“Why did you leave?” The god seemed confused and out of breath, bent forward with his hands on the knees.<br/>
I looked him up and down. If he looked this terrible I would certainly not like my own looks.<br/>
“There was no point in staying. We were both weak and the monster was too powerful for us both even at full capacity. Also there is still an objective to follow, so I merely used my time efficiently.”<br/>
“But-…”<br/>
“Did you stay to slay the beast?”<br/>
It took him a moment to answer. “…no.”<br/>
“Is it still ravaging the village?”<br/>
“Yes.”<br/>
I inhaled deeply. “Well, then you wasted your time standing there. Now come on.” I turned north again and kept walking.<br/>
“Hey, wait a second! Astas!”<br/>
I did not stop.<br/>
“But this whole thing is our fault!”<br/>
Feeling my teeth clench I spun around and glared at him. “Excuse me, but this was obviously your fault alone!”<br/>
“What?!”<br/>
“Yes.” I huffed and straightened my posture. There was no need to get emotional over this. “It was your idea to seek out this creature. If it had gone my way we would have rested in Eirenbor for the night and moved on the next day after replenishing my supplies. In conclusion, it was your rash thinking that doomed this village.”<br/>
I waited for him to answer after I finished, but he just stared at me with wide open eyes before his gaze turned to the grass at his feet.<br/>
He looked like a kicked dog.<br/>
“Guess you’re right.”<br/>
Exhaling quietly I turned around again.<br/>
“Now stop feeling sorry for yourself and keep moving.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Asphere</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks to Holly again for proof reading this chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first day was quiet, with Turo not humming or dancing as he walked. <br/>I sent him to the nearest creek we could find for him to finally wash the dark ichor off of him, the sight of him covered made me all too aware and uncomfortable with the thought of my own issues.<br/>After our detour I did not want to lose focus from my goal of reaching the settlements and finding something that will rid me of my corruption.<br/>When he was finished it was my turn and I found that the previously clear water was black now, with dark strings that were left over clinging to the shore. <br/>I could already see small silver fish floating dead on the surface and with a sigh I wandered a short way up the steam to freshen up at a clean spot.</p><p>The second day we reached another farming village, but this one was mainly surrounded by fields of grain and corn, not fruits and herbs.<br/>I did not bother to remember its name, we quickly went in to buy more rations and even ink and paper for me to write, then left without looking back.<br/>The atmosphere felt tense, people were working in a hurry with the occasional whispers of a monster coming their way. The word Eirenbor fell quite a few times.<br/>I felt their eyes on us.</p><p>The third day I started writing down my journey on the paper, everything from my departure at Pieh to me and Turo leaving Eirenbor.<br/>I felt myself getting tense remembering back to the gnomish woman at Stalrem, so I limited myself with only mentioning me buying my map.<br/>I also found myself breaking down my encounter with the Feri’s to its bare essentials and later completely left out the aftermath of fighting the corrupted monster in the dead forest.<br/>I felt a sickly sensation settling in my stomach while looking over everything I have written so far, so I decided to finally sketch the leaves I had put into my bag an eternity ago when descending the mountains.<br/>I did not feel satisfied with the path behind me and could not wait to reach the settlements to finally become a mages apprentice.</p><p>That night I woke up by a pressure building up behind my ears that increased steadily.<br/>I opened my eyes and saw Turo already sitting upright and looking around with wide eyes.  <br/>We were surrounded by small patches of forest with an almost full moon looking down at us and soon he stood up and walked away without making any sound. He disappeared into a group of trees, out of sight.<br/>Unsure of what to think of this behavior I followed suit, trying to be as quiet as possible. <br/>It proved difficult to be stealthy while also trying to stay on his trail and soon I had lost him.<br/>Dissatisfied I tried to orientate and find out where I was. Luckily with the moon shining this brightly I could make out enough to see where I had been coming from.<br/>I was about to turn around and go back to the camp when I sensed that pressure in my head again, stronger this time.<br/>It came from somewhere not far away from me and it felt like no energy I had ever been exposed to before.<br/>It was not Turo’s energy that sometimes could crackle like lightning or flare up like fire, but it also was not the acidic burning unnatural sensation I knew from the corruption.<br/>Instead it felt both heavy and light at the same time, prickling like small needles all over my skin but still strangely soothing like cold water on raw vulnerable skin. <br/>This was the aura of a creature, I was sure of it, and a very powerful one at that.<br/>Curiously I moved towards it while trying to keep close to the trees, hiding behind them.<br/>Soon I reached a small clearing and the energy in this place was overwhelming, all enveloping and nearly made me stop breathing.<br/>Clenching my fingers into the bark I moved my head around the tree enough to see past it and towards the source of this power, a single owl sitting on a tree branch.<br/>I had seen different kinds of owls depicted in literature before and I remembered that this one was called a barn owl. However an otherworldly glow came from it, with feathers that were in shades of blue and purple that seemed to shift and dance in hue constantly.<br/>Turo stood underneath it on the ground looking up and I noticed how I could not sense his aura through the immense power that this other being radiated. <br/>The owls energy canceled out his and I would bet my own aura that this was another god. <br/>Asphere.<br/>My mind was racing.<br/>I had never put much interest in studying the different gods of Amnrena, but it was common knowledge who the gods of the 5th Generation had been. <br/>There were stories of how they stabilized time and space in order to make this land more habitable. <br/>This has given both her and another goddess the title of ‘Creators of Amnrena’ despite this technically not being the case, for there had obviously been more Generations of gods before them.<br/>I was unsure how much of this was actually real and how much was simply blown out of proportion, but as far as I was aware of not many people were questioning it.<br/>Usually gods only stay for one Generation before they disappear and another era starts, but seeing how powerful Asphere seemed to be I was not surprised that she had transcended this rule and was still present now in the 6th Generation.<br/>I tried to keep my breath steady.<br/>If I would document this encounter for later reference any great mage will want me as their apprentice, I was sure of it.<br/>My head was spinning with possibilities, but partly also because the energy of the goddess felt like it was everything that existed in this area. It filled my lungs with every breath.<br/>I was light headed, but managed to keep myself together with all of my strength.<br/>Only then I noticed how neither her nor Turo talked.<br/>They made eye contact as if they were in a conversation, but both just stood there, unmoving.<br/>The face of the owl gave away no visible emotion, but Turo sometimes made faces and seemed to be generally displeased with the situation.<br/>Did they talk with their minds? I would not put it beyond their abilities.</p><p>After what felt like less than an hour the owl suddenly gave Turo a nod and spread out its wings.<br/>The air around them seemed to flicker for a moment before something white illuminated them from behind.<br/>I squinted, before closing my eyes completely. They were still adjusted to the dark of night and I needed to blink a few times before I could see what had happened.<br/>Behind Asphere there was an opening, like a rift, hanging in the air and giving off a low hum while pulsing like a heartbeat.<br/>The hairs on the back of my neck stood up with a primal fear washing over me that I could not explain. I tasted static energy on my tongue. <br/>Involuntarily my fingernails dug deeper into the tree bark, keeping me rooted at the spot.<br/>After a few more seconds the rift enveloped the goddess and the opening disappeared without making as much as a noise.<br/>The high pressure energy was gone within the blink of an eye together with that raw emotion and I felt my legs shake in relief.<br/>Turo stood there, his eyes still trained on the spot Asphere had been sitting on.<br/>“Couldn’t sleep?” He asked loudly.<br/>Oh. Well then.<br/>I saw no reason to stay behind the tree anymore, so I stepped out and faced him. My mind was still hazy, but I looked him straight in the eye.<br/>“So you were aware of my presence?”<br/>The god lets out a chuckle. “Sure. I don’t think she did though.” He pointed with a thumb towards the empty tree branch. “Was a bit too upset with me to notice.”<br/>I exhaled and felt the tension leave my shoulders. “So it really was Asphere. What did she want of you?”<br/>“Caught wind of Eirenbor being destroyed and she immediately thought that it was my fault.” He huffed.<br/>“But it was your fault.”<br/>“I know, but still.”<br/>There was silence for a few moments.<br/>“So she came here just to scold you?” I asked.<br/>“Yup, it’s what she does.”<br/>“Did she punish you?”<br/>“Nope.”<br/>I blinked slowly. “Well, what are you expected to do then? Make up for your mistake? Apologize?”<br/>“Do…” Turo had a long inhale though his nose. “…nothing.”<br/>“…nothing.”<br/>“Yup.”<br/>I was confused, but did not know what to say. <br/>He shrugged, seemingly calm but I noticed a tremble in his hands. “Don’t think too hard about this, Astas, she’s always like that.”<br/>“Not taking action?”<br/>“Not wanting me to take action.”<br/>I wrapped my arms around my elbows. A deep fatigue started to settle within me after being hit with his high amount of energy.<br/>“So, she will fix your mistake?”<br/>“Hell do I know?” Turo threw up both arms. “She doesn’t tell me shit, ask her if you really wanna know!” He stopped and thought for a second. “Or better don’t, she won’t be happy if she knows that I am working with a human.”<br/>“What would happen if she found out?” I wondered.<br/>“I dunno, mind wiping? Erasing you from existence?”<br/>At my shocked expression he replied. “Yeah, we can totally do that, but it disturbs the balance of the world or whatever. If I even think about doing it she’ll get me a can of verbal whoop-ass.”<br/>I wanted to ask more questions, in my mind I was already cowering over my paper and writing down everything I had witnessed tonight. <br/>However my legs started to shake and I felt my knees give out from under me.<br/>Turo caught me nearly without moving, just by grabbing both of my shoulders.<br/>“Hey, maybe we should go back and take a nap.”<br/>As soon as I stood on my two feet again I shook his hands off of me in a huff. Still, I agreed with him.<br/>“Should I carry you?”<br/>“No.”<br/>“Buddy, I have carried you before and you look real shaky right now-“<br/>“No!”<br/>And thus we went back to the camp.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hoped you liked it and thank you all for the kudos!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. The Saviors Divide</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>That night I started documenting my experiences with the gods of Amnrena.<br/>
The dwindling light of the bonfire was barely enough for me to see the words that I was writing, but I was used to reading with little to no light source ever since childhood.<br/>
Turo looked into my direction for a moment, but lay down to rest soon after.<br/>
He had been curious in my writings when I started, but quickly discovered that I was “just keeping a diary” and lost interest. This worked to my advantage now, since he had no reason to think that I would be writing about anything in regards to him.<br/>
I described the way I sensed his energy, how different it felt to anything else in this world and a few theories on the radius of his aura.<br/>
I had the hypothesis that he either hid away how far it could truly reach, or that his radius more than doubled when going into his giant form.<br/>
The shadow giant…<br/>
There was something strange about it, as if he used two completely different sets of energy for the transformation. One was red like his aura and carried similarities to fire or lightning, but those dark particles like smoke that sometimes moved through it?<br/>
It felt like something else entirely and I recognized it from when he had carried me in his palm.<br/>
It had burned and made my skin go numb, not unlike corruption when I came into physical contact with it.<br/>
Still it felt subdued, in the same way as he sometimes retracted his aura to not have mortals sense that he was different than us.<br/>
Did he find a way to use his corruption in combination with his aura?<br/>
If so, how was this possible?<br/>
And how big of a risk was being corrupted to him, an all-powerful creature? I doubted that it could kill him, but what other effects would it have in the long term?<br/>
I remembered back to him losing the fight to the strange dancing monster and felt my brows furrow.<br/>
Well, he was clearly not all-powerful. There were definitely limitations that I was highly interested in learning about.<br/>
Another question arose and this one made my stomach clench.<br/>
If the gods could become corrupted, this would mean that whatever the corruption consisted off was more powerful than them. And what this meant for the entirety of this world I could not even begin to imagine.<br/>
Banning this thought for now I started writing down information about Asphere on a separate sheet of paper, describing her aura under the same criteria as Turo’s.<br/>
She had appeared in the shape of an owl, which rose the question whether she was she a Feri or not. Or if she had merely used shapeshifting abilities as Turo had done a few times in my company before?<br/>
All I knew about her was what could be seen as common knowledge, aside from the fact that apparently she and Turo could communicate through their minds.<br/>
There was also a strange tension between the two, probably a rivalry, but I did not know the root of it.<br/>
I was interested in finding out more details, but I had to do so carefully as to not raise any suspicion.</p><p>The next day we arrived at a place that made the burnt forest almost pale in comparison.<br/>
All it took was one step from standing on lush green grass to dark grey rocks and rubble as far as the eye could reach. In the distance I saw cliffs opening up the ground like swords had been slashed into it.<br/>
There were no trees in sight, no movement except the wind moving dust.<br/>
The sudden change in terrain was unnatural, really.<br/>
“My map calls it the Saviors Divide.” I said out loud. “However I did not expect something as desolate as this.”<br/>
“Weird.” Turo said with a shrug and moved on.<br/>
I followed. “Do you know anything about this?”<br/>
“Hell do I know.” He answered without meeting my eyes. “I’ve been here once and not for long. It’s been like this since I came into existence.”<br/>
Trying to discern if he was being truthful I studied his face, but found nothing but a tired and bored expression.<br/>
All this walking without much sensory stimuli seemed to not be of his liking and I decided that this might be the best moment to ask him a few research related questions.<br/>
“What do you mean by ‘coming into existence’?” I ask, trying to sound not too interested.<br/>
Turo did not answer right away, he glanced at me for a moment before putting both hands in his pockets, humming to himself. <br/>
“Curious, huh? Can’t blame ya.”<br/>
For a second I thought he had seen through my guise.<br/>
“I’m a pretty interesting guy after all!”<br/>
He did not.<br/>
“I thought you humans already knew about this though. We exist for one Generation.”<br/>
I shook my head. “This is not what I meant. Are you not conventionally born as I was?”<br/>
At that he lets out a loud snort while jumping over a rift in the ground that seemed to be a deep abyss.<br/>
“Pff, of course not! I just-“ He made a plopping sound with his mouth. “-appeared one day. Same as Asphere. And one day I’ll be-“ Another plop. “-gone. Just like that.”<br/>
“Why is that?”<br/>
The god shrugged again. “I dunno. Time’s over I guess, or that’s what Asphere told me. After that others will take our place.”<br/>
This made me think for a moment and I would have nearly stepped into a chasm opening to my left if Turo had not pulled me to the side.<br/>
“Don’t die yet, buddy.”<br/>
“Do you not mind at all?” I asked. “Dying simply like that?”<br/>
He lets out a sigh and closed his eyes as he dodged a boulder in his way. “I already told you, I don’t die. And I don’t care what happens to me either.”<br/>
“Disappearing then.” I corrected myself. “Aside from that you are immortal?”<br/>
“Pretty much, yeah.”<br/>
“Unbelievable…” I muttered.<br/>
He opened his eyes and turned his head. “Why unbelievable?”<br/>
I had not noticed how this word slipped off my tongue.<br/>
All this power was wasted on this careless reckless jokester of a god, honestly. Limited time or not, I would put world twisting powers into a productive use if I had them at my hands. I could probably even find ways to extend the time given, if I tried.<br/>
I said nothing of that, obviously.<br/>
“Does the other god of the 5th Generation still exist?” I ask instead. I tried remembering her name, but failed.<br/>
“You mean Solja? Nah, she’s gone. Never met her personally.” Turo answered.<br/>
“How is it then that Asphere is still here?”<br/>
“Ask her.” He huffed and buried his hands deeper in his pockets.<br/>
He seemed to become increasingly irritated by questions about the other gods, so I decided to leave it at that for today.<br/>
I would have done so either way, because left and right to us opened two deep abyss like gaping maws in the ground, more than ready to swallow an adventurer whole without them ever seeing the light of day again.<br/>
We had to keep close, despite my reluctance to do so, training both eyes and ears to be alert to anything that might mean death or long term disfigurement.<br/>
This entire place was death trap, despite there not being a single hint of corruption anywhere.<br/>
Being encased between two large chasms and walking at their edge made me feel tense, one false step could end in me falling and if they would both run together we would be stuck and had to turn around.<br/>
After a few hours of walking clouds started to cover the sky and light rain fell, turning the rocky ground slick and even more difficult to traverse.<br/>
At one point I heard a sound from the impenetrable darkness to my left and involuntarily took a step away from it.<br/>
It sounded like a very distant yowl and something heavy dragging across rock.<br/>
I stood there for a moment unsure of what to do, before I carefully moved closer to look over the edge without putting myself at risk.<br/>
At first I saw nothing but the bottomless abyss, but then something moved through the shadows.<br/>
Something big and long, like a snake.<br/>
As quickly as it appeared it was gone and all I could hear was the light drizzle falling to the ground.<br/>
“What is it?” Turo asked, he had walked ahead before he noticed that I had stopped.<br/>
“There is something down there.” I answered, the presence of more potentially corrupted creatures making me uneasy.<br/>
His expression was even more tired than before. “There’s always something, Astas. Come on, maybe we get into a fight and I can finally kick something.”<br/>
With that he kept walking and I followed quickly.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Brambles</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Another chapter! Thanks to Holly again for proof reading it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After a few hours of walking a dark green mass suddenly rose up from the horizon like a solid wall.<br/>
It was like approaching a storm front and it made me feel uneasy.<br/>
After getting closer I realized that it was in fact a thick tangle of vines and brambles with thorns growing out of them.<br/>
We had not come across a single living creature on our way through the Saviors Divide, so why now?<br/>
“Huh, that’s weird.” Turo said as he examined the sheer length this flora stretched to our left and right.<br/>
“Even with rain the earth is as dry as a bone, this should not be able to grow here.” I knew a fair share of resilient plants that grew in a desert environment and this was not one of them.<br/>
I had to remember the first glance I took beyond the mountain tops and what seemed to be endless rolling hills of green, making me expect these travels to be peaceful.<br/>
How deceptive this false beauty has been.<br/>
Turo huffed. “Welp, we can’t walk around it. Guess I gotta go giant again.”<br/>
I looked at him with a furrowed brow. “What if Asphere notices?”<br/>
“Eh, she can suck a cucumber. Let’s go!”<br/>
This time I did not see him expanding his aura in a red glow, but I felt it like rock hitting my gut.<br/>
The shadowed particles rose from somewhere within his body and filled the ever growing space around him.<br/>
Taking a step aside and waiting for the transformation to finish I heard another strange noise from one of the chasms behind me.<br/>
I turned around just in time to see a thick bramble shooting towards me like an arm and wrapping around my body tightly before I could even make sound. The thorns were burying through my clothing and into my skin.<br/>
The air was being squeezed out from my lungs.<br/>
I opened my mouth to shout something, I did not know what. It all happened so fast, I could not think.<br/>
I was barely able to catch a second vine, as thick as a boulder, wrap itself around Turo and interrupting his transformation. He was only about eight feet tall when the particles fell apart and revealed a mid-changed state.<br/>
Without the shadows to cover him I saw how parts of him ended up looking humanoid while another parts ended up being heavily corrupted.<br/>
So my hypothesis was right, he actively used his corruption to his advantage.<br/>
It was then that I was pulled rapidly towards the wall of thorns by the bramble holding me.<br/>
Everything was a blur and from one moment to the next I was swallowed by a swirl of plants and darkness. I was being cut raw left and right and all I could do to protect myself was closing my eyes and pulling my head in.<br/>
Whatever this was, it was dragging me somewhere with purpose and I did not want to find out where that was.<br/>
Despite the sharp pain I attempted to concentrate on the bramble holding me. Plants were easy to manipulate with my energy and soon I had a general feel for its physiology.<br/>
It was part plant and part… something else. Something strange that was unfamiliar to me.<br/>
I did not have the time to contemplate about this further, I had to get out fast.<br/>
I focused… and nothing happened.<br/>
My eyes shot open.<br/>
This was the worst possible time for my powers to fail me.<br/>
I tried again, nothing.<br/>
The skin underneath my garments felt minced and I started to sweat.<br/>
I attempted to slip my arms out of the iron grip and after a few moments that felt like an eternity both were free. There seemed to be space between long thorns where the plant laid slightly looser around me.<br/>
I put my hands directly on the bramble and concentrated, but this attempt was in vain too.<br/>
Suddenly I heard a sharp voice yelling in the distance and for a split second I saw Turo flash by between more vines, also being dragged at an incredible speed.<br/>
At the same moment the bramble holding me began to shake violently and retracted in almost an instant.<br/>
I landed on the ground and managed to avoid the full brunt of the fall by rolling myself off of the ground. Still I found myself on a bed of smaller thorns that pricked me painfully, but luckily they did not seem to be sentient.<br/>
The large one that had held me cringed and shook in the air, covered in a thick layer of ice with pieces of matter breaking from it.<br/>
My whole upper body was also coated in a frosty layer, as if I had created a protective shell around me.<br/>
Getting up and retreating backwards between a shrub I watched Turo being pulled out of sight and immediately I found the control over the ice dwindling and melting.<br/>
“Oh. Please no.” I whispered, having a terrible hunch crossing my mind.</p><p>Carefully I moved through the thicket into the direction that Turo vanished in, halting often because my cloak would get tangled in the vines.<br/>
Thorns ripped pieces out of it occasionally, making me grind my teeth in frustration.<br/>
I never owned many pieces of clothing, so having the only ones I had on my body ruined this easily was a waste I did not appreciate in the slightest.<br/>
Occasionally I tested if my powers worked, possibly indicating that they were in fact connected to Turo’s presence.<br/>
Part of me obviously hoped that this was not the case, because that would be a huge inconvenience for me and I wanted to be rid of him and his annoying antics as soon as we figure out how to cleanse me from the corruption.<br/>
I assumed that it was still raining, although most of it did not reach me on bottom of this dry deadly jungle. Even the sunlight struggled to get through this tangled mess of a habitat.<br/>
For a while I was trying to be quiet, moving slowly and not daring to awake any potentially sentient plants, but soon impatience took a hold of me and I grew more frustrated.<br/>
I could have reached the Faraway Plateaus by now if it were not for inconvenience after inconvenience being thrown into my way.<br/>
Stretching out my aura to all sides I tried to sense for Turo’s energy.<br/>
After I caught a hint of a powerful vibration in the air I moved towards it as quickly as I was able to, pushing away anything that was in my path with bare hands.<br/>
I ignored the bleeding cuts and bruises that followed my actions.<br/>
I wanted to get out, immediately.</p><p>After a long time, it could have been hours or minutes, the thicket became barely traversable and I needed to push myself sideways through spaces.<br/>
Small thorns turned into the size of daggers and I avoided what I could, pressing my leather bag close to my chest to not lose what little I owned.<br/>
Suddenly I felt a surge of power within me and after I checked if I could use my energy the plants around me crumbled up and turned into small piles of frozen matter.<br/>
I was close then.<br/>
Using my aura once more I moved forward with nothing stopping me anymore, letting everything freeze and die around me.<br/>
It was not like it could not regrow and kill me at any moment, so I found it was only a fair trade.<br/>
After a few minutes I heard shouts muffled in the distance and walking towards it I found a cocoon made of plants hanging from higher vines that had created something similar to a ceiling in this area.<br/>
The cocoon shook around wildly as something was struggling to get free, tearing pieces up just to be immediately covered by new flora. It seemed like whatever was in there swelled in size over and over again, just to be pushed back.<br/>
Occasionally I could see an arm and a leg break through and a salvo of curses I had never heard before in my life were shot from within, a lot of them referencing various kinds of mothers.<br/>
Rolling my eyes I walked closer and froze up the entire structure within a matter of seconds.<br/>
The cocoon crumpled and broke, letting a disheveled Turo fall down and landing on his back with a dull sound.<br/>
Groaning he looked around and his eyes found me.<br/>
“Oh. Hey.”<br/>
“Hello.”<br/>
“…I had this under control.”<br/>
I raised an eyebrow. “Obviously.”<br/>
He lets out a cough. “So…”<br/>
I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Just get up so we can leave this place.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you liked it!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Beyond</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks to Holly again!<br/>Please enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Why are my powers connected to your presence?”<br/>
Turo turned his head with a confused expression on his face. “What?”<br/>
We have been walking through this terrible bramble forest for a few minutes and the air around us was cold from me freezing us a way to freedom.<br/>
I was not sure if we still walked north in a straight line, but I had at least tried to keep track of what little was visible of the sun from where we were.<br/>
“You heard me right. I have observed it for a while and it seems like every time there is a distance between me and you I cannot use my energy anymore. Why is that?”<br/>
I stared right at him, I demanded an explanation and I would get it.<br/>
“What? Really?” He looked incredibly dense, he did not seem to pretend at this moment.<br/>
“Yes, really.” I huffed. “Can you explain this to me?”<br/>
“Uhh, no. Are you sure?” A crumpled vine fell on his head and he brushed it off.<br/>
“Yes, I am sure!” Was he even listening to me? “My powers awoke suddenly the day after you had passed by Pieh, it must be connected to you.”<br/>
He raised his hands in defense. “Listen, I didn’t do anything this time, I swear!”<br/>
“Do you know if something like this happened before? That a god imbued a mortal with abilities that they did not have beforehand?”<br/>
“No… I dunno.”<br/>
I lowered my head and took a deep breath. This was like picking in sand trying to find a single hidden straw.<br/>
Turo scratched his neck, thinking. “I haven’t been there all the time though. Your powers worked before the Feri and meeting me, didn’t they?”<br/>
“Indeed, but you did tell me that you knew about what happened at Stalrem, so you might have been nearby without being aware.”<br/>
“That… yeah, maybe.”<br/>
I straightened my back and tried to keep a calm composure. I would one hundred percent not put it beneath Turo to do something as this without even knowing.<br/>
He glanced at me before looking ahead, then below to his feet and up at the bramble canopy.<br/>
“So uh, I’ve created a warlock on accident.” He chuckled at himself. “Fun times.”<br/>
My head snapped around. “A what?” I have read a lot about different kind of mage professions, but this was a term I have never heard before.<br/>
“A warlock is kinda like a forbidden wizard. I heard of mortals making deals with powerful creatures from the Beyond to get a piece of that power pie, but I didn’t know that my people can do that too.”<br/>
While speaking his chuckle turned into laughter until his entire body was shaking from it.<br/>
Uncomfortable I took a step back. “There are children’s stories about the Beyond. What exactly is that?”<br/>
Turo was wheezing. He rubbed the back of his neck, slowly calming down.<br/>
“Oh yeah, those horror stories about weird monsters from another world? Partially true.” He hummed at himself, thinking. “The Beyond is basically just a term for everything that is not Amnrena, very generalized if you ask me. But hey, your lot came up with that, so who are we to debunk your theories?”<br/>
He gave me a wink that made me want to slap the smile right off of his face.<br/>
“So you are purposefully holding back information.” I said as calmly as possible. “Even if it might be of help.”<br/>
With half-lidded eyes he grinned. “So are you, ice boy.”<br/>
My face stayed unmoving.<br/>
“I’m not stupid, I know you are writing down every little thing you can find out about me and Asphere to have some high-end wizard kiss your boots over it.”<br/>
I stopped.<br/>
He did too.<br/>
“I mean, who wouldn’t use an opportunity like this to find out more about us if it is being served on a silver platter?” Turo crossed his arms, seeming very satisfied with himself.<br/>
I frowned.<br/>
Clearly I had underestimated him, despite myself.<br/>
“You are wrong.” I answered dryly.<br/>
The god stared right at me, through me, and his dark brown eyes got a red tint.<br/>
“Welp, at least I’m the one who’s honest about it.” He turned around nonchalantly and kept walking. “Here we are, two sons of bitches who are just using one another to reach their own goals.”<br/>
I followed in silence while continuing to freeze the brambles. There was a seething hot sensation crawling up my neck uncomfortably, but I brushed it off.<br/>
“By the way, that plant thing that snatched us up before?” Turo continued. “Probably a creature of the Beyond. I could take it on no problem, but we are probably faster if we keep avoiding it.”<br/>
“The same as you took on the dancing monster?” I murmured.<br/>
He snorted. “That was something different, that thing was corrupted. This one here isn’t.”<br/>
At this moment the ground beneath us started to shift and rise.<br/>
We didn’t have enough time to dodge before a massive bramble broke the ground beneath us and sent me flying into the canopy.<br/>
Thorns grazed my face and I felt warm blood running down the right side of it.<br/>
I braced myself for a rough landing, but the bramble caught me mid-air and I looked down into the gaping hole that it had torn into the ground within a matter of seconds.<br/>
Something rose out of it, a giant green and purple orb with two gleaming lights that pierced at me. Many more thick vines spiraled their way up out of the darkness and towards me like enormous snakes.<br/>
A maw opened within the orb with no visible teeth, but rows and rows of thorns.<br/>
I sucked in air through my teeth and began to freeze the bramble holding me slowly for it to lose its grip.<br/>
I was afraid that if I went to fast it could let go of me and I would fall right towards it.<br/>
Before I could even put my plan into motion I saw a quick flash of movement slamming right into the creature’s side.<br/>
Of course it was Turo, now nine feet tall and covered in shadows.<br/>
The monster made an aching sound as it was thrown off and slammed right into the wall of hole it had opened.<br/>
All its vines went slack and I fell, past its head and into the deep abyss.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A cliffhanger, I'm sorry. But only a little.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Deals and Motives</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks again to my beta reader Holly.<br/>Have fun reading!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There was darkness around me, but my eyes were wide open.<br/>I fell into nothingness and the smell of earth, stone and rotten plants was all encompassing.<br/>There was water in the air, but pulling it towards me and covering me with a shield would not save me from the impact, if it ever came.<br/>I was angry at Turo, for him not thinking a second before he acted and me dying for someone else’s mistakes.<br/>I had feared that I would die this way eventually, but not so soon. Not before I was ever given a chance.<br/>Then something grabbed me, enveloped me tightly while I was still in the air and this time it had no thorns.<br/>Everything around me burned and I felt the corruption within me acting up.<br/>“About time.” I murmured quietly.<br/>The space around me lit up in a red glow and I saw Turo in his giant form looming over me with both feet and the one free hand that was not holding me pressed against the side of this deep hole.<br/>His eyes were flaring red. “You die when I say you die.”<br/>I huffed. “Lending me power makes you nobody’s master, you godling.”<br/>His arms and legs shook as he held himself steady while slowly beginning to climb backwards towards the surface, artificial claws digging deeply into the crumbling rock.<br/>“You are my best bet to… fucking show that bitch.” He wheezed in between breaths.<br/>He was straining himself so much that I was worried he would accidentally close the hand holding me and crushing me in it.<br/>“So all you want is revenge?”<br/>A grin curled over his face. “I want to do the thing she never did. Kill the corruption. And I will rub it in all over her fucking visage.”<br/>He heaved himself up further. The shadowed particles surrounding him dispersed slightly before pulling towards his form again.<br/>“Ohh, everything Asphere did is so perfect, god damn utopian bullshit!” His growled. “Ohh, look at the new one! That little failure, a corrupted piece of shit, if he ever puts his finger on her work he will ruin everything! Better weed him out before he pulls everyone down with him!”<br/>Incredible. He was even more of an idiot than I had thought.<br/>“Do not depend your rise on the recognition of the ones who have failed you already.” I sneered. “Rid yourself of them all and let them eat your dust, for it is all they deserve after you are finished with them-...”<br/>I stopped myself. <br/>I had not been thinking.<br/>My breath got stuck in my throat and my chest clenched tightly, but what I had said still felt true in a strange way.<br/>Had this really been my words..?<br/>I felt dizzy. I was about to throw up what little I had in my stomach.<br/>Turo’s eyes went wide and he stared at me. The rest of his face was obscured by the particles, but he seemed surprised.<br/>“Wow, that’s… thank you. Thanks, Astas!”<br/>I held back a groan. I felt very ill all of the sudden, but I pulled myself together. “If you will not continue climbing I swear to you-...”<br/>He laughed gleefully. “Gotcha, I’m on it!” <br/>He moved for a bit, before stopping and seemingly thinking to himself.<br/>I held onto his giant hand and watched as his shoulders were quaking and red energy circled around them. It intensified and pulsed for a few moments before dissipating. <br/>Turo was out of breath from this action and took a moment to regain it.<br/>“What was that?” I asked with a frown.<br/>“Nothing. Just trying something. Let’s go.” And thus he continued the backwards climb.</p><p>After what felt like an eternity we saw a dot of dull sunlight above us in the dark and soon we sat on each side of that hole, tired.<br/>“Where is the monster?” I asked.<br/>“Gone.” Turo had changed back into his usual form and looked terrible. “I punched it real good and it crawled down another rift. Didn’t come back, so I think we’re good.”<br/>I got up. “Well then, let us go.”<br/>“What?”<br/>“We wasted enough time in this place, I want to reach the settlements before I die of old age.”<br/>He sighed. “No break?”<br/>“No break.”<br/>With a groan he got up and followed me. The sun must have come out above the canopy and I could make out enough of it to guess our direction.<br/>The god grumbled. “I carried you all the way up that hole, while you chilled in my palm-“<br/>“No complaints and no divergences anymore.” I interrupted him. “I intend to get this over with so we can go separate paths once more.”<br/>A large vine fell out of the canopy as I started freezing us a way again and it would have hit me if Turo had not caught it in time.<br/>Throwing it aside with one hand he said: “Yeah about that. Do you think this is smart?”<br/>I turned my head. “What?”<br/>“I’m just saying, if we get there and you become an apprentice and maybe we find out what to do about the corruption… wouldn’t it be a pity if I went away and took your powers with me? Wouldn’t your teacher be disappointed?”<br/>His eyelids were lowered and he smirked at me.<br/>That insufferable prick.<br/>“Is that not taking me hostage in a sense?” I asked calmly.<br/>“Maybe. But I think you could be helpful for me even beyond the corruption.”<br/>Before I could even flinch an arm flung itself over my shoulder and stayed there resting on me heavily.<br/>I attempted to shake it off, but he would not let me.<br/>“You’re smart and you are driven. I like those traits in a man.”<br/>I hissed. “You want me to help you in a childish revenge plot I am not interested in.”<br/>“I’d like to call it…” He hummed. “A childish plot of justice. How about it?”<br/>“No.”<br/>“Aw come on, don’t be like that! Imagine yourself, the greatest most ambitious wizard! Not only gifted and intelligent, but with powers boosted by the great Turo himself!”<br/>I let out a huff and turned my head away. <br/>Using false powers that were not even mine, after everything that I had studied for in that dirt hole of a village I was born in? Preposterous.<br/>“You are just trying to smooth over your proposal.” I said. “I will not depend on outside forces for my success.”<br/>“Hey, you can still get that though!” He grinned. “You use that big brain of yours to train your own energy and mine will only be a neat little extra in the end! All I need is your bright mind in return.”<br/>“Pretty words will not buy me, god.”<br/>Turo’s eyes suddenly widened. “Wait, you think I am just blowing smoke up your ass?”<br/>“You attempted to buy yourself a favor with a slice of cake.”<br/>His mouth was gaping a few times before closing. “Okay, that was… okay. But you know what, this right now is real! I mean it!”<br/>His arm moved back until he put his hand on my shoulder. “I think you are really smart in the way you use your energy. And I am not even half as driven as you, especially with what, fifteen years? Come on, I can’t make this shit up.”<br/>“So I should make a deal with a ten year old with the way you act.” I mumbled.<br/>“Sixteen, actually. Age for my people is uh, a little wonky.”<br/>I gave him a side glance.<br/>I did not want to admit it, but his offer sounded tempting. <br/>I could indeed start an apprenticeship with his help and build my own personal abilities up on it. And if I ended up not being interested in his help anymore I could drop it and had my own years of training as a mage to keep me above water.<br/>“I will think about it until we reach the settlements.” I answered.<br/>His face brightened. “Is this a yes??”<br/>“This is a maybe. Stop hearing what you want to hear when I am talking to you.”<br/>“Yes, sir!”<br/>All of the sudden bright light flooded the path I opened up in front of us and moments later we stood under the sun with thick blades of green grass under our feet.<br/>In front of us opened up a landscape of plateaus, rising out of the ground like giant discs. Some even stacked onto each other looking like towers of dish plates, but overgrown with lush green forests, hills and meadows.<br/>We have finally reached the Faraway Plateaus.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Throttley</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks again to Holly!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>My map was sprawled out on the ground with the light of flames dancing over it.<br/>
“We are here.” I pointed at an area above the Saviors Divide, which Turo and I had passed three days ago. “Which means that we should arrive at the settlements tomorrow.”<br/>
Turo hummed. He was sitting and leaning against the high wall of a plateau. “Okay and how do you plan on getting up there?”<br/>
That was a good question. Every single settlement was built on top of them and on our way we had passed multiple plateaus already, some high above the ground, some low enough that one could possibly get up them if they managed to climb the trees nearby.<br/>
“The disc-like structures were raised by powerful mages in the 5th Generation.” I remembered reading at one point in my life. It was almost impossible to not know about this, it was one of the greatest achievements of mankind so far. “I assume that the residents use their energy to travel.”<br/>
He peered over my shoulder at the parchment. “That or they use a weird lift system. I dunno, I always just teleported up there.”<br/>
My head snapped around. “You can teleport?!”<br/>
“Yup.”<br/>
“We could have teleported this entire time?!”<br/>
“Hey now!” Turo’s eyebrows furrowed. “I was saying that I can teleport myself, not you.”<br/>
“And why is that?” I hissed.<br/>
“Because you would fucking disintegrate, that’s why!”<br/>
I shoulders sank. “Oh.” I turned back to my map. “Well then.”<br/>
Turo huffed and crossed his arms. “I can open rifts in reality to travel through them, but you mortal peeps don’t have the physicality to get close to them. And I couldn’t just let you travel on your own, or you might’ve not arrived here alive.”<br/>
A seething hot sensation crawled over my neck. “Ah.”<br/>
“Yeah.”<br/>
My eyes were glued at the map. “Well… thank you then.”<br/>
He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the cold rock. “Don’t mention it.”<br/>
There was an uncomfortable silence in the air.<br/>
I was the one breaking it. “So you have been here already?”<br/>
“Only for a short time, a few years ago. Wasn’t that great.”<br/>
“At which settlement exactly?”<br/>
“Hmm…” Turo scratched his chin and peered at the parchment before setting down a finger. “There it is, Pheodrian. It’s pretty much at the center of the whole settle-cluster.”<br/>
This sounded interesting certainly, from there I could have an easy access to other areas of the plateaus.<br/>
He glanced at me. “I would kinda prefer to not go there actually.”<br/>
“Why?”<br/>
“Uhhh. Well…” He lets out a dry laugh. “I might have um, a reputation.”<br/>
I sighed. “What have you done?”<br/>
“I only released a monster from the Haunted Forest on them and maybe wrecked the place a little.”<br/>
He rubbed his chin.<br/>
“Now that I think about it, it might have been two monsters.”<br/>
He noticed me glaring.<br/>
“It was an accident! Well, half an accident. The outcome was an accident. And then some mages called me a demon and wanted to banish me.”<br/>
Oh, for the love of- “Have I called you impossible before?”<br/>
“Yeah?”<br/>
“Good.”</p><p>The next day started with rain, but we continued our travel regardless.<br/>
I had the map out the entire time now, trying to shield it from getting wet while moving into the direction of the settlements.<br/>
We have decided to go to the most southern one which was called Throttley. It was supposed to be really small and the chances for powerful mages living there were slim, but at least Turo would not get hunted down for sport.<br/>
Mid-day we came to a halt, we arrived at the inhabited plateau but there seemed to be no means of travelling up. I assumed there had to be constructions of rope, wood or stone, similar to ones people used in Stalrem to move heavy objects up and down the mountains.<br/>
But this here was mage territory, so I needed to begin to think like one.<br/>
After a few minutes of examining our surroundings I spotted a plate of stone rising out of the grass, almost completely covered by wet leaves and branches.<br/>
Pushing those aside with one foot revealed a few signs or runes chiseled into the rim, ones that I did not recognize.<br/>
“Turo, look at this.” I called.<br/>
He walked up to me. “Oh, that’s Amnrenian.”<br/>
“You can read this, can you?”<br/>
“Sure, it says ‘Suraperate’.”<br/>
The second these words left his mouth the runes began to glow and the stone rose out of the ground.<br/>
It levitated upwards slowly and Turo jumped on it quickly before I could even access the situation and grabbed my hand.<br/>
“Come on!”<br/>
He pulled me up and we both stood there on this narrow space as we saw the ground beneath us getting further and further away.<br/>
I turned to him. “What did you say?”<br/>
“’Sur’ means over, on or sky. ‘Aperate’ generally means something with movement or charging towards something.” He looked at me like pulling this information out of his brain had brought him physical pain.<br/>
I shook my head in disbelief. “Amnrenian is a dead language, how did you learn this?”<br/>
“I speak it fluently, all of us do.”<br/>
The treetops seemed very small now, we were halfway up the plateau. I could see birds sitting on the highest branches, some were looking up at us.<br/>
I looked back.<br/>
Turo continued. “Amnrenian is more about feeling movements of energy in patterns, so a word can have multiple meanings that can be entirely different from one another. These here on the rock are easier ones because they are kind of similar at least.”<br/>
I turned my head towards him, looking down reminded me all too much how easy it was to fall off of this platform. “What difficult words do you know?” If mages used Amnrenian for spells such as these it might be helpful knowing a few words beforehand.<br/>
He groaned. “Please don’t. I told you this stuff is a nightmare to translate.”<br/>
I did not give up this easily. “What about my name?”<br/>
The god let out a dry laugh. “It won’t help you if I translated it, believe me.”<br/>
He noticed the expression on my face and got serious.<br/>
“Geez, fine. Um… ‘Ameras’ means morning I think. Or beginning. I dunno.”<br/>
His face scrunched up again, as it did when he was thinking really hard. “The other two words are worse: ‘Astas’ feels…unmoving. Static and in place.”<br/>
Sweat starts to form on his brow. “‘Komeras’ is like… arriving somewhere. Becoming or being someone or something.” He rubbed his forehead. “That was horrible, don’t ever make me do this again.”<br/>
While I was wondering how my parents could have named me in Amnrenian in the first place Turo mumbled something with “Asphere” and “better than me”.</p><p>After wandering for an hour we reached the small town called Throttley.<br/>
It was marked as a settlement on my map, but it was too big for that, really.<br/>
There were multiple clusters of houses that surrounded many rivers which flowed into each other and parted again, giving it all the atmosphere of a fishing town.<br/>
The rivers made me frown, because there was no way that these broad roads of water could have formed naturally on a plateau like this, even if there were springs nearby. Then again the plateaus themselves were supposed to be created artificially, so it would not be surprising if mages had a hand in this too.<br/>
“You know what?” Turo said, strolling next to me like he did not have a care in the world. He seemed to have recovered from translating words for me. “I think I’ll be fine just walking around normally. I’ve never been in this town before, so I’m a nobody here.”<br/>
I gave him a short “Hm.” to show that I heard him.<br/>
“Also it has been years since I’ve been on the Plateau’s, so I doubt that anyone remembers m-“<br/>
“THE DEMON!”<br/>
A fisher man in a blue and brown tunic who was in the process of lifting a bubble of water with his bare hands, carrying shimmering silver fish inside dropped it to the ground and pointed at the god.<br/>
Almost immediately every single person in the vicinity turned their head and stared at us.<br/>
Turo stopped.<br/>
“Fuck.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Big Fishes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks to Holly again and have fun reading!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>We were running like our life depended on it, once again. I did not enjoy that this was a regular occurrence for us, but alas here we were, this time not being attacked by monsters for a change.<br/>
Turo and I ran the opposite direction of where we used the stone platform, followed by angry shouts and splashes of water hitting our backs.<br/>
We were too far away for them to use water with the full force of their aura, but I felt my drenched clothes and hair soon be covered by a thick layer of ice without me intending to do so. I blamed stress for this reaction.<br/>
My mind was already racing about what to do next.<br/>
They remembered the god and now I would be perceived as his accomplice. This was a simple fishing town, but once word would spread beyond it there was no chance of me becoming a mage in training.<br/>
The thought of this being a dead end made me feel sick to my stomach.<br/>
Before I could even come up with a plan to solve this issue Turo suddenly stopped running and faced the angry crowd following us. He grabbed my arm and I came to an abrupt halt.<br/>
“What are you-…“ I wanted to yell, but he put a finger over his lips telling me to be quiet.<br/>
With my mouth gaping I glanced at the people following us. For simple fishing folk they seemed fierce with a fire burning in their eyes, ready to fight anything they deemed a threat.<br/>
I felt myself backing away, but the grip on my arm kept me in place.<br/>
Turo stretched a hand out towards them as if he was demanding for them to stop and said something.<br/>
I did not hear his voice, I only saw his mouth moving and a low hum filled my ears.<br/>
His irises gleamed red and the white of his eyes turned unnaturally intense.<br/>
I saw the eyes of the people glossing over, they moved slower and slower until they were all standing, water flowing in the air around them in small streams.<br/>
They seemed confused and were looking around as if they did not know where they were, then the first ones caught eye of us.<br/>
My breath turned shallow as I did not know whether to run or not, but they had an expression like they have never seen me in their life. Before I could even say a word they turned around and walked back to Throttley, talking to each other in a puzzled manner.<br/>
Only then I realized that I was alright.<br/>
I turned to Turo, but he was not there anymore.<br/>
Taking a deep breath I wiped my hands off on my cloak.<br/>
“You good?”<br/>
The voice was too close to my ear again and I jumped a little before I noticed a subtle shadow hiding along my shoulder.<br/>
I frowned. “You erased their memory.”<br/>
“Only the last two minutes. You are a free man again, Astas.”<br/>
“What about Asphere? Will she not reprove you for this?”<br/>
“If the memory’s fresh it won’t take as much energy. Maybe she didn’t even notice.”<br/>
He did not sound like he believed it and I did not either.</p><p>And thus I ended up in the position of having to talk to people to gain information.<br/>
Once again I wished for Turo to take care of this tedious job, but he was limited to clinging to my side and listening to what was going on around us.<br/>
Walking into Throttley I noticed the same busy working atmosphere as in Eirenbor, but there was a high use of energies involved: I saw mostly people manipulating water to fish in the various rivers, some were knitting nets creating thin strings out of thin air it seemed or one person fixing the roof of a house with tools while levitating above the ground.<br/>
Speaking of the buildings, something about them seemed strange to me. I was used to handmade houses out of clay or stone, but these almost seemed like risen out of the ground by force, condensed stone and dirt with a web of tree roots growing underneath, painted over in shades of red and grey. The roofs were slightly angular and little gardens grew on them.<br/>
If this was not strange enough I saw pipes as thick as my legs running everywhere, to every house, above the ground. There looked new compared to everything else, shining in a dark shade of metal I have never seen before and if I walked close to one I heard water rushing steadily.<br/>
I found my way to a market place, the ground was smooth perfect stone without a single crack and in the middle of the town all rivers flowed together surrounding it. Small boats used them for transportation and in the middle of the place stood a single statue. Being closer to it revealed a small bird that was made of dark grey rock, a throttle as the engraving at the foot of the base said. Apparently it was gifted to the settlement after escaping the tyranny of the dragons, of which I had only heard about in history books.<br/>
Moving through various booths selling many fish themed foods I found my way to one of the taverns that were surrounding the market place, a dimly lit interior of light stone with wooden accents. Many people filled the tables eating their lunch, the smell of fish broth hung in the air.<br/>
Holding my head down I moved towards the bar where an older woman with an apron webbed similar to a fishing net moved water through several dirty glasses standing on the counter.<br/>
I watched it twirl through the inside and around the outside like tiny snakes and she caught me staring before I even had the chance to open my mouth.<br/>
“You are not from around here, boy?” Her voice sounded raspy and she smirked at me in a way I knew all too well from Turo already.<br/>
I brought myself to look her in the eyes, calmly but with purpose. “I am looking for an apprenticeship to learn to use my energy. Are there any teachers living here in this town?”<br/>
“Everyone here can teach you about energy, you have to be more specific.”<br/>
I meant actual mages, not fishers. “I am talking about the Mages Circle.”<br/>
I got a blank stare before the woman threw her head back and let out a loud “HAH.” The fist that slammed down on the counter shook the room and for a moment the tavern became quiet before the general background noise of chatter rose up again.<br/>
“Listen here, child.” She spat. “Those big fishes don’t just take anyone. Can you imagine how many toddlers are waving their hands around, saying that they want to become the next High Mage?”<br/>
She turned towards her glasses again and the water continued to dance around them. “Go home, boy. Spare yourself the heartbreak.”<br/>
Suddenly the water stopped, froze in place and dropped to the ground, small curled up snakes of ice.<br/>
The hands of the barmaid were up in the air and she watched as her fingers slowly turned blue. “W-What?” She looked at me and back at her hands in disbelief. “How do you-“<br/>
I did not understand why she was confused if energy was used in everyday life here, but I took advantage of this moment and put my hands on the counter between us. “I just want to know where these mages are so I can ask them personally.”<br/>
“U-Um.” The woman stuttered, every hint of a condescending smile gone. “I have heard that Master Yamaju has been seen in town earlier today. I don’t know if he is still here, but if so you can probably find him in town hall down the eastern river.”<br/>
I gave her a nod and thanked her before leaving.<br/>
Stepping outside I followed the flow of the river she mentioned and wondered how Turo did not leave a single comment when we were inside.<br/>
“Did you swallow your tongue?” I murmured quietly.<br/>
“Nah, tongue’s still in place.” He did not sound as energetic as usual.<br/>
“What is wrong?”<br/>
“Uhh, that Yamaju guy? One of the people I try to avoid.”<br/>
I held back a groan. “So I have to let this opportunity lie too because of a mistake you did?” It was getting annoying being caught in the crossfire of his actions.<br/>
Turo went quiet and I could almost hear the grinding of teeth. “Fine, go to him. But at the first opportunity of getting another mage to talk to we bolt, capiche?”<br/>
“Capiche.” I repeated, unamused.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>In the next chapter we'll meet an important side character we'll see a lot of throughout the story, so I'm excited for that!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Master Yamaju</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Introducing Yamaju and Astas having to prove himself!<br/>Thanks to Holly for beta reading my chapter again.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The town hall looked very similar to every other building in its design, with the exception of its size and the roof, which was much higher than usual and had a solid shining sphere on the top like half an orb.<br/>
I squinted because at the current time of day the sun reflected strongly on the surface, so I could not make out what it was made of.<br/>
Walking inside I saw many smaller tables on the walls with various people writing or reading scrolls, the atmosphere reminded me more of scholars and scribes than fishers which made me really curious, but I was on a schedule. I was just hoping that this High Mage was still in town.<br/>
I walked through the great hall and arrived at a desk which was on a low pedestal obviously meant to be for visitors when they first arrive.<br/>
I asked a mousy looking man with a few streaks of grey hair for Master Yamaju.<br/>
“Um, do you have an appointment?” He asked, looking me up and down.<br/>
I knew I looked horrible, I was out in the rain all day and have not properly bathed since I was in Eirenbor.<br/>
I felt my cheeks heating up embarrassment. “Is he here?”<br/>
“Yes, but he is busy-“<br/>
“Hello?” He was suddenly interrupted by a low voice from behind me.<br/>
I turned around to see an older man with light brown hair almost reaching his shoulders and dressed in a simple dark cloak. I could not quite make out his age, he did have wrinkles around his eyes and mouth, but his skin still seemed to be full of life and he did not have grey hair. But everything from his small stout build to the wise and curious expression reminded me of an old man.<br/>
A seething hot sensation traveled down my back as I tried to straighten my posture and ran my hands over my clothes discreetly, though I doubted that it helped my presentation. “Are you Master Yamaju?”<br/>
“I indeed am. And who might you be, young man?”<br/>
The way he looked at me gave me the feeling as if he knew exactly where I have been just from my appearance. I felt my stomach drop. Turo’s energy that flared up in a quick panic certainly did not help either.<br/>
“My name is Ameras Astas Komeras and I have traveled a long time to be taught in the use of my energy by the great mages of the Faraway Plateaus.” Speaking and keeping my posture took a lot out of me, I have never been this nervous in my life.<br/>
This was my chance and I had to make it count.<br/>
“Hm.” He carried a few books under one arm and shifted their weight to the other while scratching his chin.<br/>
I returned his stare without blinking.<br/>
“How about we talk upstairs in my study about this?”<br/>
I nearly let out a sigh of relief, but pulled myself together.<br/>
What was wrong with me? Why was I this fussed when being this close to my goal?<br/>
I followed Master Yamaju up the stairs on the side of the hall, not being in his sight anymore gave me the opportunity to clench my hands into my cloak. They were shaking.<br/>
“You are from the Sumber Desert?”<br/>
It sounded like he already knew the answer and it took me a moment to answer. “Yes.”<br/>
He nodded. “I recognize the design of your clothing. I admire your tenacity to come all this way, these are not easy travels especially at times like this.”<br/>
I lowered my eyes and said nothing.<br/>
He opened a wooden door at the end of the stairs and I stepped into what seemed like the sun itself. I squinted and turned my head away, the light that flooded the room was blinding.<br/>
“Excuse me, this is for just for security. I have to tone this down a little bit.”<br/>
I heard steps on wood and a snap from somewhere within the room. The light dimmed until I could see normally. It was still bright daylight inside, but I looked up at a dome of crystal with a few amnrenian letters glowing yellow in the middle.<br/>
I wanted to ask Turo what it meant, but I obviously could not talk to him at this moment.<br/>
The whole room was surrounded by bookshelves that were filled to the brim, so much so that even the ground had stacks of books and scrolls lying next to them. The scent of leather covers and paper filled the air and I wanted to read each and every one of them.<br/>
Master Yamaju walked over a thick red and brown carpet with pictures and shapes weaved into it and sits down on a cushioned chair behind a desk that had heavy paper stacks left and right. He set down the books he carried on the ground next to him.<br/>
“Where exactly do you hail from, Ameras Astas Komeras?”<br/>
I sit down on the chair across from him and nearly jump up from how unexpectedly soft it was. “Pieh, a small village south of Stalrem.”<br/>
The mage gave me another nod and folded his hands. “I have to be honest with you, but what you came here for is no small request. Being accepted as an apprentice by our Circle members is a process the fewest pass and we choose the candidates carefully. I hope you understand that you might have come here to be rejected.”<br/>
I closed my eyes for a second and answered: “Yes.” I feared that this could be the case.<br/>
“However.” He continued. “I will not let you go without giving you a fair chance after coming all this way. And even if you will not succeed you can still fill out an application for Buzzard School. In this here establishment people can learn a basic use of their aura by voluntary teachers.”<br/>
I gave him a hum of acceptance.<br/>
“Well then!” He clapped his hands and his serious expression was washed away by a bright smile. “I will explain the process to you: At first a candidate tells me about their aura and show me how they use it. If the composition and abilities are adequate I will introduce them to the other Circle Mages and they will prove themselves again in front of us all. Did you understand?”<br/>
“I did.” I clasped my hands as he did and ready myself for anything.<br/>
‘Impress him.’ I told myself. ‘Impress him.’<br/>
“Well, tell me about your abilities. What do you think qualifies you for an apprenticeship at our Circle?” His voice and expression was calm, it took some stress off of me.<br/>
I remembered what I knew about the Mages Circle. They were a select group of mages that chose to dedicate their life towards perfecting the use of their auras for the protection of Amnrena from creatures that might harm it. The exact conditions they worked under were not publicly known, but it was said that they recognized a candidate once they saw them.<br/>
“Ice is my ability. My powers grew suddenly and quickly and I want to learn to control them properly.” I explained.<br/>
Master Yamaju hummed. “Is it limited to ice or the element of water in general?”<br/>
This made me falter. I had never attempted to use water in its liquid state, the thought never came to me. “I am unsure.”<br/>
He gave me a nod and stood up. “Wait a moment please.”<br/>
He left the room and came back with a jug of water and a few empty glasses.<br/>
Filling one he said. “The elements are the easiest to influence in their purest form. Demonstrate your powers please, simply do so in the way that feels the most natural to you.”<br/>
I wiped my sweating palms on my knees discreetly and took a deep breath. I realized that this exercise was in fact not natural for me, I have never frozen water which was not part of a plant or creature.<br/>
Still I tried it with only a glance at the glass and I was relieved to see that it was filled with ice within a second.<br/>
The mage picked it up and looked at it closely, moving it around slightly. “The core is still liquid.”<br/>
My stomach dropped.<br/>
I got a second attempt with another glass, but the result was the same.<br/>
I tried to freeze the entire jug of water, but only the surface and the sides froze up, the core stayed unaffected.<br/>
A sick feeling crawled up my neck with failing what was deemed a simple task.<br/>
“Clearly freezing bodies of water is not your strength, but this is alright.” Master Yamaju hummed and looked at me. “When did your powers awake exactly?”<br/>
“A few weeks ago.”<br/>
He became silent again and examined the glass once more as if it could tell him everything he needed to know.<br/>
“The structure of your ice is flawless in solidity, there are no cracks or rifts in it whatsoever. I myself am not an expert on the element of water, but even I can see that this is astounding work for only a few weeks of practice. You did not have a teacher before?”<br/>
“No.”<br/>
He smiled encouragingly. “Being able to use your aura without the aid of a somatic component is also something that usually requires years of training. I will not lie, most candidates that come here have further developed abilities than you, but yours are defined in a way I do not see often even in adult mages.”<br/>
I nodded, but I knew this was not enough.<br/>
Not breaking eye contact I said: “I have not used my aura in the way you presented me with. I have never frozen water in its pure state before.”<br/>
He raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Oh? How did you use it then?”<br/>
I swallowed and felt for moisture in the air around me, there was not much considering we were in a closed building. Still I drew what I could towards me and it settled on my arms in delicate shapes.<br/>
The mage’s eyes went wide. “How unusual.” His voice stayed calm, but his expression was interested. “It needs a strong sensitivity of the aura to feel for fragments of a favored element hidden among others."<br/>
I swallowed. Feeling for fragments of water within a creature was exactly what came natural to me.<br/>
I knew I had to demonstrate it to be in his favor, but until now I only used this ability to secure my own path. I was hesitant to use it on the very person that seemed to be my best chance for success, especially with how often I ended up freezing more than originally intended.<br/>
My throat tightened.<br/>
The mage set down the glass he was holding as his right hand twitched. He eyed it with surprise and bewilderment as ice began to grow over the tip of his little finger.<br/>
I tried to keep calm, I needed to have complete control over my energy. If I lost it and it ended up harming him my chance would be gone.<br/>
“Fascinating.” Master Yamaju murmured with a glint in his eyes. “Stop the growth at the first joint.”<br/>
It stopped perfectly. I almost sighed out loud.<br/>
It was the safest way to present this power by only freezing the surface of his skin.<br/>
But the mage was not done with this exercise: “Would you please do me a favor and close your eyes?”<br/>
I did not want to close my eyes. I looked back at him waiting for another request, but he just examined the ice around his finger.<br/>
Unhappily I obliged.<br/>
“Please freeze a blood vessel in my left shoulder without stopping its blood flow.”<br/>
What?<br/>
I almost opened my eyes again, but he sounded serious.<br/>
What kind of a test was this? Freezing a blood vessel could be highly dangerous, why did this mage put so much faith into my abilities if a mistake could end his life?<br/>
Then I realized that this sounded similar to his first request, I froze the glass of water while leaving the core liquid on accident.<br/>
This was not an exercise, this was a lesson.<br/>
Carefully I stretched out my aura to sense for his shoulder, already feeling the power radiating from him. It was not comparable to the aura of a god, Turo still gave off these anxious waves, but it was impressive still.<br/>
I chose a blood vessel, one of the smallest in the hope that it was not a vital one.<br/>
Biting my tongue I began to freeze, first the cells around the vessel, then closer to it.<br/>
It was strange how clear everything felt to me, from the pulse of his aura to the structure of his shoulder.<br/>
I owned a magnifying glass once and at this moment I felt like a child once more, holding it close to one of the book pages to see every fiber of the paper that was stained with ink to create a greater illustration.<br/>
When I retracted my aura again and opened my eyes I felt strange. I was shaking, but also oddly calm.<br/>
I felt… peaceful, despite the circumstances.<br/>
I saw that the shoulder of Master Yamaju was alright, there was not a hint of ice on the surface as he rolled it and squeezed it with one hand. Perplexed I watched as he stood up from his chair with a smile.<br/>
“Ameras Astas Komeras, I think I have to introduce you to a few people.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Roommates</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks to Holly again for proof reading!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Master Yamaju told me that he still had business in town, so we would not be able to leave for Phoedrian until tomorrow.<br/>
“This is where our coven lies.” He explained to me. “Until then you can rent a room at a tavern and enjoy your stay in Throttley. I will get you tomorrow morning, bright and early.”<br/>
I felt dizzy with everything happening so quickly.<br/>
I have been accepted by a member of the Circle and I would get to prove myself in front of the other High Mages.<br/>
Thanking him and barely being able to get a sound out of my throat I remembered that I had not enough money for another stay at a tavern. It was maybe enough to buy food at the market place, but I would have to sleep on the streets tonight.<br/>
“Is something wrong, Ameras?” Master Yamaju asked with concern, when I did not answer immediately he raised an eyebrow.<br/>
I did not like that he used my first name, but did not correct him. “I do not have much money anymore.” I admitted quietly.<br/>
He nodded. “Of course, after your long travel this makes sense. Wait here a moment.”<br/>
The mage left me alone in town hall and I carefully glanced down to my side to see if Turo was still here. It was even more difficult to notice on the inside of a building, but there was a barely noticeable flicker where the light did not touch my frame.<br/>
Master Yamaju returned before I had a chance to talk to him and offered me a small pouch that weighed heavily in my hand. “This should be enough to care for yourself for the next few days.”<br/>
I opened it any my eyes widened. It was filled to the brim with gold pieces, more than I had ever seen in my life.<br/>
I stuttered. “I-I cannot-…“<br/>
“Take it.” The mage insisted. “I promised to get you to Phoedrian safely and until then you are under my protection. This includes bearing the costs of your stay.”<br/>
I did not know what to say. I thanked him and clutched the pouch tightly before moving outside.<br/>
The rain had stopped and the sun started peaking through the cloud covered sky.<br/>
I managed to walk along a street without noticing where I was going before I sat down at the side of a building, not quite grasping what had happened today.<br/>
“Holy shit, you made it!”<br/>
The shadow on my side moved slightly as if a hand patted my shoulder.<br/>
Yes, but not quite. “I will have to prove myself in front of the Circle at first.” I whispered to him.<br/>
I felt exhausted. Now that I finally arrived where I wanted to be I felt like all my body asked for was sleep.<br/>
For a second I even  thought I saw the shape of a person standing down the street, watching me in the corner of my eye, but as I turned my head there was no one.<br/>
Maybe the stress took a toll on me.<br/>
“Sure, but you did the first step! If you got Yamaju on your side then the others will be a piece of cake!” Turo cheered.<br/>
He sounded genuinely supportive, I took a deep breath and put the pouch with gold into my bag.<br/>
“Let us find a tavern to stay in.”</p><p>Obviously I did not go back to the tavern where I asked about Master Yamaju’s whereabouts, there were a few others along the main roads but Turo convinced me to stay at the “fanciest one of them all, we deserve it!”.<br/>
It was on the other side of the market place, called the Soaring Nightingale.<br/>
Inside was a small foyer where I rented a room for one person, since it would have looked strange for me to ask for two.<br/>
The interior had pillars of dark wood, tables covered in dark blue tablecloths with white embroidery, and long panels of matching fabric from the ceiling to the ground. Two sets of stairs to each side of the foyer, which were covered in a dark carpet lead upstairs, supposedly to the rooms. Between those broad stairs went downstairs to a washing room as a sign told me.<br/>
There was a big room to the side meant as a dining hall and I intended to visit it after I settled down for the afternoon.<br/>
The room I rented was big with white painted wood panels and dark brown furniture. There was more dark blue carpet and fitting blankets with pillows on the bed and on the padded chairs in a corner, which were surrounding a small table.<br/>
I set my bag down and felt even more dirty than before in a clean beautiful building such as this.<br/>
“Ahh, this is the life!” Turo jumped out from my shadow and twirled around a few times before letting himself fall on the bed face first. “I call dibs!”<br/>
“Excuse me, but this is my room.” I stated. “You will not sleep in my bed.”<br/>
He flipped onto his back. “Come on, Astas! I can’t sleep outside on a roof like last time, there are gardens everywhere and someone will spot me for sure! Also this bed is big enough for two people, so help me out here.”<br/>
I frowned. “You may sleep here then, but not on the bed.”<br/>
“Aw, what?”<br/>
“You can rest on the chairs or the carpet.”<br/>
Turo sat up. “I brought you here, all this way, getting myself in trouble for you and you won’t even let me have the bed?”<br/>
I wanted to say that he did not have selfless goals either, but then I remembered him getting in trouble with Asphere and translating Amnrenian to me despite not enjoying doing it. Also he erased the memories of towns people for me to have free passage.<br/>
I inhaled sharply. “Fine.”<br/>
His eyes lit up. “Really?”<br/>
“You may have it. I will sleep in a chair then.”<br/>
“Whohooo!” He threw his back onto the mattress again and rolled around laughing in glee.<br/>
“Such a child.” I murmured to myself.</p><p>That evening I was finally washed, in clean clothes and well fed after a long time.<br/>
Turo had insisted that he wanted to eat too, so I had to sneak him downstairs and into the dining hall. I ordered more food than one person could eat and saw from time to time a shadow flash by and letting food from my plate disappear.<br/>
And although I did not ask how he managed to do so, he apparently sneaked downstairs and managed to bathe too.<br/>
He settled on the bed in an sleeping gown he found in the wardrobe, all limbs stretched to the sides as if he was trying to sink down into the bed and disappear.<br/>
I settled into the padded chairs and despite it not being as comfortable as a bed I was tired and fell asleep quickly.</p><p>A few hours later I opened my eyes to a pitch black room. It must have been in the middle of the night, but a glowing woman with night blue hair and sky blue eyes was staring down at me.<br/>
Her aura felt cool and pricked like needles all over me and I opened my mouth to scream, but just a small yelp escaped me.<br/>
“What are you doing with this mortal, Tur Orian?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Cliffhanger?<br/>Cliffhanger.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Drowning</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks to Holly again for beta reading!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Being in the presence of an overwhelming aura such as this while hiding in a forest with some distance was nothing compared to having its source right in front of me.<br/>
Turo had mentioned that gods had the power to travel through reality and as a mortal being close to this display would cause me to disintegrate.<br/>
This was exactly how I felt in this moment.<br/>
I was pressed into the cushions of the chair I had been sleeping on, not feeling it under me or the way my hands dug into the armrests. I did not even feel my own aura or body anymore. It was as if I was drowning in water, except the water was alive and dispelled everything and anything that was in its vicinity.<br/>
All I could do was stare with unclear eyes at this person in front of me.<br/>
It was even worse when a distant thought, or I thought it was my thought, entered my consciousness telling me that she probably did not even do anything at this moment.<br/>
Asphere was just standing there.<br/>
From somewhere a voice was pushing through into my direction and I vaguely recognized it as Turo’s.<br/>
“What the fuck, get away from him!”<br/>
The Everything around me sounded like water rushing down a river with high pressure: “We are not supposed to interact with mortals, are you aware of the damage you could do?”<br/>
It did not sound loud, nor gentle, but every word was filled with power and I felt myself getting sick.<br/>
I was not sure I was made to endure these amounts of energy all at once, but I could not move a single muscle. There were no muscles anymore. Although I was glad to still have my mind.<br/>
“I haven’t done anything!” Turo yelled through the fog. “Pull your aura in, you are hurting him!”<br/>
Was I hurting? I did not feel pain.<br/>
What I felt was too much of everything, a tension that was straining me to my very core, but definitely no pain.<br/>
The aura pulled away slightly, but it still felt ever-present.<br/>
I was now aware enough of my body to know that my skin was prickling and head was spinning. I was not well.<br/>
“Every action we do affects this world on a larger level, every bit of bending reality is too much.” Asphere lectured him. “This world is delicate and so are its citizens. Matters must be handled with care and forethought.”<br/>
I was not even sure if they talked out loud or used their minds to communicate, but I was caught in this feud and I knew I could not move out of it using my own will.<br/>
“Not this shit again! I am just trying to-“<br/>
“I cannot trust you, Tur Orian.” The goddess interrupted him. “Your impulsive fits of anger have done too much harm for me to let you be active.”<br/>
I wanted to open my mouth, say something, but no noise came out and my mind was blank.<br/>
“Listen to me, I’m trying-“<br/>
“Solja and I have worked too hard to reach the level of peace and stability you and everyone in Amnrena are fortunate to experience today.” Her voice now sounded cold and hard like metal. “I cannot let you damage it by using your powers as a plaything.”<br/>
The Everything turned around and I felt its overwhelming focus on me. I was vaguely aware of my stomach acting up and hoped my dinner from last night would stay inside.<br/>
“As for you, young human-“<br/>
“He doesn’t know anything! I’m just helping him out!” Turo called out angrily, but with a hint of fear underlining his words.<br/>
Asphere’s voice suddenly grew soft and gentle. “We cannot risk a word about us being breathed. You know this, Orian.”<br/>
I was not sure why, but being called by his second name did something to the god. When he answered his was sounded more quiet and timid than I ever heard him before.<br/>
“…I know.”<br/>
“So you understand why I must clear his memory, as one last act of using our power to clean up what mess you have left behind.”<br/>
What she said was wrong, because the next thing I know her aura quivered and I felt a familiar push of energy vibrate violently through her.<br/>
“FUCK OFF, he’s my friend!”<br/>
More ripples run through the Everything around me, Turo must be attacking Asphere in his anger.<br/>
While there was definitely a reaction from her side, I was sure that he did not do even a sliver of damage to her no matter how hard he tried.<br/>
Once again I attempted to speak and managed to whisper a “Stop.” though all the noise.<br/>
I was not sure if I would be heard, but the attacks stopped at once and once more Asphere was looking at me. I heard Turo’s strained noises as he growled for her to let him go.<br/>
“I… do not know anything about you… and I do not wish to…”<br/>
Every word felt difficult, my head was not spinning anymore, but the goddess’ aura still put me under strain.<br/>
“I am… sick. Turo is helping me.”<br/>
It was no lie, but I kept my desires to become a mage and the god accidentally sharing his powers with me to myself.<br/>
“…he did not tell me anything… and I will tell no one about him… I promise.”<br/>
I wheezed. My tongue felt heavy.<br/>
“Please do not take my memory…”<br/>
For a few moments there was no sound except for the constant hum of energy in the air.<br/>
Aspheres blue eyes looked at me, through me and I was terrified.<br/>
I closed my eyes, this was too much for me. I wished I could just let my mind slip into sleeps oblivion, but the goddesses aura did something to me.<br/>
Even though it was exhausting to endure her presence, I felt crystal clear, too aware of everything, there was no way I could rest for a single second as long as she was near.<br/>
Finally she spoke: “If you break your promise, I will take what you owe.”<br/>
I nodded, pressing my lips together.<br/>
“You have heard me, Ameras Astas Komeras. No word about us shall be spoken or thought. You never know who is listening.”<br/>
With that woman being able to track down Turo within a heartbeat and following us everywhere? We sure did not know who was listening, alright.<br/>
I nodded again and whispered that I understood.<br/>
“The same counts for you, Tur Orian.” Asphere continued. “One more mistake and I will do what I have to.”<br/>
“Yeah! Sure!” Turo answered quickly as if he worried that she would have a change of heart.<br/>
What happened after this was a blur.<br/>
A blinding white light opened in front of me and for a moment every cell of my body was screaming in agony before the feeling subsided and within the blink of an eye the aura and the intense strain I had been under was gone.<br/>
I was barely able to make eye contact with Turo, who was standing next to the bed, before my vision turned black.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Soaring</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Again, thanks to Holly for beta reading my stuff!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When I awoke the next morning there was a fatigue settling in my bones unlike anything I have ever felt.<br/>
After fighting the corrupted dancing monster I had felt exhausted, but this now was different. My body was rested, but I was not. As if my aura had been compressed into a small space and now it needed time to unfold again.<br/>
I was not even sure I could use my ice, which was disconcerting considering that I was to meet the High Mages today.<br/>
I remembered that Master Yamaju waiting for me and opened my eyes. I had to be there nonetheless, I have traveled too long for me to fail now.<br/>
The sun was not entirely up yet, the room was painted in grey colors and I noticed that I was laying near the edge of the large bed with a blanket resting heavily on me.<br/>
The pillows crinkled quietly as I turned my head to see the god on the edge of the other side with his back turned towards me.<br/>
I felt a bit uncomfortable, but between us was easily enough space for two more people, so I stayed put for the moment. He must have put me here after Asphere disappeared.<br/>
I looked at the ceiling and started thinking about what might await me at Phoedrian when I suddenly heard Turo speak: “So have you decided?”<br/>
For a moment I was confused. “What do you mean?”<br/>
He did not turn around. “You said you’d decide if you wanted to team up with me or not once we arrived at the settlements.”<br/>
Oh. I have almost forgotten about this.<br/>
To be entirely honest I have decided to accept his offer right after he had told me about it, but considering that he uncovered my plan of trading my knowledge about the gods with the High Mages while carrying that insufferable smug expression not long before, I did not want to give him the satisfaction.<br/>
Well, this plan went nowhere either way. Asphere successfully changed my mind out of showing my writings to any human. A part of me even considered burning them.<br/>
“I accept.” I answered Turo’s question. “With the condition that I can end our collaboration when I wish to and with no consequences whatsoever.”<br/>
“’kay, sure.” He said and threw the bedsheets off of him and pushed himself up. After a few seconds of silence he continued. “I kind of expected you to jump off.”<br/>
“Because of Asphere?”<br/>
“Nope, in general. You like to do things by yourself. But yes, also because of her. She can be, uh, controlling.”<br/>
That description was quite a change from outright cursing her out before, but I did not comment on it.<br/>
“Your name is Tur Orian then?” I changed the topic. The goddess has called him that and I was sure that it was Amnrenian too.<br/>
But Turo pretended to not hear me as he picked up his clothes from yesterday to change.<br/>
I let the conversation lie for today.</p><p>After this both of us refrained from discussing what had happened in detail.<br/>
I got up and did my best to get ready for the day. There was a clump in my stomach and I was not sure which of the many reasons I could blame for this.<br/>
Asphere? Traveling to Phoedrian? Being this close to my goal? Having to change in a room with Turo while constantly checking if he actually had his face turned to the wall as I asked him to?<br/>
Eventually I made my way downstairs with my bag around the shoulder and Turo in my shadow. He would stay there quite a lot if Phoedrian had been the place he caused trouble at, which he was not thrilled about.<br/>
Master Yamaju was waiting downstairs in the foyer, his hands clasped and two bags on his back that were fixed with leather straps.<br/>
“There you are, Ameras. Good morning.” He greeted me with a smile that far surpassed my own mood.<br/>
I hoped that it did not show when I gave him a polite nod. I wanted to open my mouth to answer to his greeting, but the words felt stuck in my throat and my lungs seized up.<br/>
This had happened sometimes when I did not feel well as a child, but not in the past years.<br/>
Slightly bewildered I coughed over my silence.<br/>
The mage continued as if he had not noticed: “I have asked around in the nearby taverns if they have seen a young man of your description rent a room since we did not discuss your place of residence, and one owner told me a boy froze her fingers and left.”<br/>
My mind was slow this morning, so it took me a moment to realize what he meant.<br/>
My chest felt even tighter as I opened my mouth to maybe justify myself or tell that it had been a misunderstanding, but as before no sound left me.<br/>
So I just closed my mouth and avoided his gaze. This seemed to be an unlucky morning for me.<br/>
To my surprise though Master Yamaju did not seem upset. “It is alright, the nice lady is fine. I would ask of you however to not use your abilities on people in the future, or at least for the time you are under my protection.”<br/>
I nodded again and stayed silent. An uncomfortable prickling sensation crawled up the back my neck and all I wanted was to move on.</p><p>We reached the edge of the plateau of Throttley on its north side, seeing a steep cliff beneath us and a landscape of more plateaus ahead.<br/>
I stood there wondering which one Phoedrian was on and how Master Yamaju usually moved between them. Maybe there was a stone plate with runes I had not seen yet?<br/>
“It has been a while since I traveled with another person.” The mage smiled, apparently happy with my company despite me not talking the entire way here. “Are you familiar with wind energy, Ameras?”<br/>
“No.” I answered truthfully. Was he was a wind sorcerer?<br/>
He gave me a nod and pulled the straps of his luggage tighter. “Why, then I hope you will enjoy your first time flying.”<br/>
My eyes widened. “Flying?”<br/>
“Hold onto my arm, but not too tightly. I will still have to move them a little.”<br/>
My mouth was dry and I was still processing the thought of having to move through the air like a bird.<br/>
Master Yamaju held out his arm, waiting. I had no other choice but to comply.<br/>
“Well then!” He looked ahead to the nearest plateau in his sight and then glanced down to me. “No need to be afraid, I will make sure it will be but a gentle soar.”<br/>
I nodded sternly with furrowed brows, keeping myself from nervously glancing down the cliff. We were very high up.<br/>
I held onto his upper arm as the mage moved both hands towards his shoulders, resting them there. He breathed in deeply through his nose and out through his mouth. He repeated this process for a while and nothing happened, I was wondering if something went wrong.<br/>
Suddenly I noticed that the wind around us had picked up.<br/>
I could not sense it on my skin, but looking at the grass to our feet I noticed it being perfectly still around them, while an arm length away it moved in a circle shape.<br/>
My feet shuffled as the wind around us closed in and I felt it pressing against my legs and lower cloak which started moving around wildly.<br/>
The pressure against my legs and feet build up and before I knew it a gentle tug lifted us from the ground, carrying both Yamaju and me upwards. I clung to him tightly and felt my breath speed up as the wind carried up and forward towards the cliff, over its edge.<br/>
I attempted to sense if Turo was disconcerted with flying, but there were no anxious spikes radiating off of him.<br/>
The mage took his hands off of his shoulders and let them hang down his sides in a relaxed way, but with both palms facing to his back while the wind pushed us forward.<br/>
He seemed perfectly calm as he looked at me. “There we go.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Meditation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Travelling through the air did not take as much time as travelling on foot. The mage navigated between the nearest plateaus, flying towards them and then walking across until we got to the next edge.<br/>
Like this we moved pretty much in a straight line towards Phoedrian. The mid-day sun hit the plateau from above and made it stand out like a sore thumb among all the others.<br/>
I could see that it had three levels to it: One large base with two smaller plateaus stacked on top. From our current perspective it was entirely covered in buildings of all shapes and sizes and getting closer there were at least two broad bridges with a metallic sheen leading to smaller plateaus nearby that seemed to be inhabited too.<br/>
It was baffling how crowded it was, I was not aware cities could be this large. Even Stalrem did not take this much space and instead had its buildings close together and stacked on top of each other to prevent unnecessary expansion.<br/>
We flew towards the highest of the plateaus and I saw multiple towers in a variation of sizes and colors growing towards the sky almost like they had a will on their own. They surrounded a few plazas and larger buildings. One great castle stood in its middle like it was chiseled out of one solid grey stone.<br/>
We landed right at the southern edge and I looked around in astonishment. I had never seen this many colors at once.<br/>
“Welcome to Phoedrian, Ameras, the capital of the Faraway Plateaus.” Master Yamaju’s eyes grazed over the towers. There was an emotion on his face that reflected familiarity and… something else. I was not sure. “Feel free to stay here as long as you’d like, there is a lot to see here.”<br/>
I gazed down the edge of the cliff and saw even more buildings beneath on the lower plate. And even more beyond it. “This is much larger than the village I am used to.” I mumbled.<br/>
With an almost bashful expression the mage looked into the distance. “Well, we have had more opportunities for settling than in the older parts of Amnrena. But I will not go into this topic today, the day is young and I will go visit my associates to tell them about you.”<br/>
This made me perk up. “Um, will I present myself in front of them today?”<br/>
“Not right now if this is your worry. The early evening should suffice, I’d say.”<br/>
I was unsure. I did not want to try out my powers now in front of him at the moment in case they failed, but my aura still felt strange despite the hours that had passed.<br/>
Master Yamaju studied my face and said: “Are you nervous? It is alright if you are.”<br/>
“No.” I answered quickly and avoided his eyes. “I just feel strange, this is all.”<br/>
“That can happen. You were not the first to face this trial and will not be the last.”<br/>
I stayed quiet. Even if Asphere did something to my aura, I needed to succeed today. I did not come here for nothing.<br/>
The mage’s expression suddenly became thoughtful and he lowered his voice as if afraid of being heard. “We are not supposed to aid you in a way that might grant you an advantage, however we can do simple exercise, a meditation, that might calm your mind if you wish to.”<br/>
I did not reject his offer. Who was I to reject it if the person who offered might be the key to my future?</p><p>Putting my skepticism aside I followed him through the winding streets and past many buildings. Some were stores that sold odd artefacts and rare herbs, strange warping and glistening materials, some sold books, only a few sold weapons. Other buildings seemed to temporary residences, restaurants, but I did not see a single tavern.<br/>
Something all of them had in common was, that they appeared to be both expensive and exotic, with a variety of goods and food I have never heard of before.<br/>
Occasionally I heard sounds overhead and I expected to see birds, but there were objects flying through the air. Most of them were too quick and nimble to make any more out than a blur, but some resembled the size and shapes of flying animals.<br/>
Master Yamaju explained that those were golems, inanimate materials formed, shaped and temporary infused with energy to serve a purpose. Most of them were small and used to deliver messages or packages.<br/>
About fifteen minutes later we arrived at one of the larger buildings, square and made of dark bricks with a tower growing out of it. It almost seemed bland among the many colors surrounding it, but on closer inspection the walls seemed to have a slight reflection on their surface.<br/>
The mage unlocked the heavy set door with a metal key and walked in, motioning me to follow.<br/>
I entered a narrow and long hallway with many doors to our left and right and one large door at the very back. There were small stones embedded on the ceiling that upon entering started glowing in a warm light.<br/>
“This is where I work most of my days. Take your cloak off and make yourself comfortable.” Master Yamaju was already in the process of unclasping the many leather straps that held his bags in place and walked towards the end of the hallway.<br/>
I followed, though did not take my cloak off yet. I eyed the doors and was wondering if there were living quarters behind them. From the size of this building there might as well be. My old home would fit multiple times in here.<br/>
Walking through the door at the end greeted me with a sight I had only seen in my imagination: Rows and rows of books filled the shelves on the walls, tables, and even the ground. I looked up and saw wooden ladders leading up to more floors and possibly more knowledge than I could fathom.<br/>
Keeping a neutral expression was very difficult, I wanted to get my hands on every single one of these tomes.<br/>
The mage did not take notice of me as he hung his cloak on a rack on the wall and moved on to a section in the back of the large room that was separated by shelves.<br/>
I took my own cloak off with shaking hands and put it in my bag as I quickly followed.<br/>
Soon I stood in front of two broad leather couches that seemed to be of good quality, even if a little old. They faced one another with a small table in between that had more stacks of paper and a set of fine porcelain placed on it.<br/>
I had only seen something as this once, a chipped cup a child claimed to have stolen from a wealthy merchant in the city. These ones here were in a flawless state and with small landscapes painted on its sides.<br/>
Master Yamaju sat down.<br/>
I sat across from him and set my bag down to my side. Suddenly I remembered why I was here and wondered what kind of meditation the mage had in mind. I remembered them being mentioned in literature a few times, but never in much detail.<br/>
“Now if you don’t mind, tell me what exactly feels wrong about your aura today?”<br/>
I purposefully relaxed my eyebrows to seem more open to whatever the mage had planned, but I felt myself becoming wary. He was not supposed to find out about my run-ins with the goddess, or Turo for that matter. “You sound like you are versed in the use of aura?”<br/>
“Oh, I have seen a few conditions in my time, but I would not call myself a healer nor a professional witch.”<br/>
I looked down to my knees and thought for a moment. Maybe he did have a clue what I could do about this. I could at least try to gather a bit of information on what happened to me without giving away too much of my own. “My aura feels constricted, as if it had been pushed into a too small space and has trouble unfolding again.”<br/>
“I see. When did you notice it at first?”<br/>
“This morning.”<br/>
“And do you have an idea why this might be?”<br/>
I felt my eyes narrow slightly. “No.”<br/>
Master Yamaju leaned back and his calm expression turned into a searching gaze.<br/>
I felt myself shrinking unto the couch a little.<br/>
He scratched his chin and said: “That is certainly odd, your powers worked well yesterday. Did you try to use them since you woke up?”<br/>
I did not, but looking down at the hands in my lap I attempted to draw water from the air again. I could feel the temperature around me falling, but that was all that happened. Energy was building up in me, but not coming free.<br/>
I furrowed my brows and tried harder. I felt a pressure building up in my chest which was not painful, but quite uncomfortable.<br/>
“Close your eyes, please.”<br/>
My eyes immediately snapped up at the mage again.<br/>
One second too late I caught myself glaring, because Master Yamaju hummed to himself while scanning my face thoroughly. Once again I had the feeling as if he knew too much about me just with a glance.<br/>
He said nothing however and gave me an nod. “Alright, then could you maybe focus on a set point in this room? This will aid your concentration.”<br/>
I decided to play along as best as I could, to not get on the mage’s bad side. I chose a book I saw on a shelf behind him, red leather with dark and golden engravings I could not quite make out from this distance.<br/>
“Take a deep breath.”<br/>
Staring at the tome intently I breathed in.<br/>
“Not this shallow please, fill your lungs with as much air as you can.”<br/>
I could have sworn that this was a deep breath, but I attempted it again.<br/>
“This is better. Hold it for a few seconds and then breathe out slowly.”<br/>
This continued a few more times, I honestly felt quite stupid doing so and the fact that I constantly had two watchful eyes on me did not help my situation. I knew how to breathe, why would I be taught this like an infant?<br/>
Suddenly the mage said: “Now focus on your energy and its source within your body.”<br/>
It was still difficult to feel my aura around me as it was, I especially did not have a clue how to find it in me. Before it felt like walking through a cold cloud wherever I went, now it resembled crumpled parchment more than anything.<br/>
“Did you find your source?” Master Yamaju asked.<br/>
His voice sounded strange in my ears all of the sudden, as if I had my head dipped under water. Somehow my senses were numbed and it felt too similar to last night when my aura was being compressed.<br/>
“Calm yourself, Ameras."<br/>
What was going on? Why was I getting dizzy all of the sudden? My teeth were grinding against each other and I was trying my best to pull myself together.<br/>
"Can you hear me? Steady breaths, everything is alright.”<br/>
I thought that maybe the mage did something to my energy without me being aware of it and my hands clenched around my knees with me trying to keep them from shaking.<br/>
“I know it is!” I pressed harshly through my teeth. My voice sounded different, almost like the one of a stranger.<br/>
The mage’s eyes widened and I immediately regretted my outburst. Pressing my lips together I determined I might as well stood up right now and leave altogether.<br/>
The expression on his face calmed down however and he even gave me a smile. “It’s alright, we do it a little different then. Just try to breathe normally then, only focus on that.”<br/>
What? Was he not upset with me?<br/>
Confused I said nothing and followed his instructions. Promptly I had a coughing fit out of nowhere. I did not choke on anything, but a rapid shift in me threw me off.<br/>
How was I supposed to become a mage if I could not even get breathing right?!<br/>
Master Yamaju seemed surprised now, I was just glad that it was not shock this time. “I did not expect you to react this strongly to this excercise. Do you want to continue?”<br/>
The air returned to me and I straightened my back. I had already made a fool of myself as it was and I did not even have my trial yet. I was determined to push through until I could go no further, I did not want to fail under any circumstances.<br/>
“Yes.”<br/>
“Well then, try it again then, but slower this time.”<br/>
I breathed. For what felt like an hour I just sat there breathing, sitting in my anger and embarrassment, but not wanting to give up.<br/>
Master Yamaju did not talk. I preferred it that way. He had his eyes closed and both feet steadily planted on the ground, seemingly meditating himself. At least I felt not watched now.<br/>
I did not expect anything to happen by me doing this, but soon felt my chest expanding more easily.<br/>
Baffled I noticed aura expanded again as well, slowly but surely. There was relief, I quickly wanted to see if my powers worked again, but before I had the chance I felt my muscles clench weirdly around my lungs.<br/>
Wheezing I pressed my hands on my chest. Sweat started to break through my skin and I held my breath for a moment, hoping it would go away. After a moment it subsided, but I was startled still.<br/>
“What is wrong?” The mage had his eyes open again.<br/>
I opened my hand and found a thin layer of ice in my palm. “The state of my energy has improved.”<br/>
The mage seemed content. “Well done, Ameras. Breathing exercises seem to work well for you.”<br/>
I would say the opposite, but I did not argue.<br/>
He continued. “If everything is well now, I will go now and inform my associates. You may stay here for the time being or you can go and explore the upper circle if this is alright with you. But please be here in the late afternoon hours and we will meet them together.”<br/>
Soon after the requirements were stated I was left alone. Well, not completely alone, but I needed a break.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks to Holly for proof reading this chapter again.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0027"><h2>27. The High Mages</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Oh wow, I am uploading another chapter? After months of hiatus? I am surprised myself.<br/>Just a heads up, this one is longer than the ones before and I'm planning to take more time in between chapters to make them bigger and better!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I stayed in. Travelling, escaping monsters and meeting gods has been exhausting, but after pulling out literature about Phoedrian from one of the shelves to learn more about this place I found myself not being able to concentrate on a single word.<br/>
I closed my eyes for a moment and as I opened them I found my head resting against the page on the table. The light that came in from the windows has turned into a warm golden color and the shadows in the room grew longer.<br/>
Looking up I noticed that I was not alone anymore. Turo was on the couch across from me where Master Yamaju sat before, arms crossed and with one leg jumping up and down restlessly.<br/>
When he noticed me being awake he gave me a big grin, but without any humor. “Had a nice nap, ice boy?”<br/>
I sat back up again and straightened my back. The thought that I fell asleep here and now, when the mage could come back any moment, was uncomfortable. I did not want to seem lazy or disinterested about the rare opportunity I was given.<br/>
Rubbing my face with one hand I murmured. “Where is Master Yamaju?” Have I overslept and missed my appointment with the High Mages?<br/>
“He isn’t back yet.”<br/>
Putting my hand down I studied the god in front of me more closely. His eyes glanced around nervously as if he expected to be attacked at any second.<br/>
“Right, you were in Phoedrian before.” I said, remembering him mentioning how he clashed with mages in this city. “Were you in this building before too?”<br/>
“A few times, yeah.” Turo sighed. Suddenly his tension was replaced with a heavy sigh. “Welp, we are here now. Whatever is necessary for our goals, I guess.”<br/>
Our goals. I have not realized that our deal made us a team with a unified direction until this very moment.<br/>
A strange uneasiness filled me all of the sudden.<br/>
I had never worked with another person before and keeping Turo hidden in this city brimming with people who would hunt him down on sight would be difficult if I got the apprenticeship.<br/>
However becoming both a powerful mage and finding a way to rid myself of the corruption were no small feats, so not being alone with all of this was… good. Useful.<br/>
Yes, useful was the right word for it.</p><p>The sun was about to vanish behind the horizon when I stood within the castle I had seen from afar when arriving in Phoedrian. Colorful buildings were surrounding me and Master Yamaju as we made our way here, but not having enough time to stop and linger. He promised me there would be time for that at another point.<br/>
I was wondering what he thought my chances were to win over the support of the other mages. He seemed tense, walking in a hurried manner and his brows pushed together, but I dared not to ask about it.<br/>
Enhanced flames that shone brighter than normal ones bathed the grey hallway of Castle Phoedrian from bronze bowls set within the smooth walls.<br/>
Every single hallway felt like stepping from one world into the next, one was cowered in emerald carpets and gems, one displayed various kinds of weaponry, another showed detailed maps of the world hanging on the wall.<br/>
I did not know how long our way through the castle took, but it felt like a labyrinth that the mage leading me through apparently knew like the back of his hand.<br/>
When trailing my eyes along the lines where the walls hit the floor and the ceiling I felt myself frown. It seemed all too seamless, like the entire castle was carved out of one solid piece of rock and not build from the ground up. I would not be surprised if it was created using mage’s powers.<br/>
At last, standing in front of a large dark green door covered over and over in runes, Master Yamaju nudged me lightly towards it. My nerves were already thin and the tap on my back made me jump.<br/>
Gritting my teeth and wrapping myself tighter into my cloak I did my best to keep my limbs from shaking.<br/>
This was it.<br/>
I stepped towards the door and a few of the runes on its surface started to glow, but I had no idea what it meant.<br/>
Turning to Master Yamaju I found him glancing over them quickly before looking back at me with a nod. “It will be alright, do not worry.”<br/>
Slightly confused I moved my hand to open the door, but the wings already swung open before I could even touch a handle. I stepped into a great hall, but had to close my eyes immediately.<br/>
The sun that came in from the windows to the side hit a circular mosaic mural on the ground that reflected the light blindingly. It reminded me all too much of stepping into the chancery back in Throttley and I made a guess that this was another installment similar to that one.<br/>
I had to blink a few times before I could see the shapes four people standing to the murals side.<br/>
Trying to make out the details in this hall was nearly impossible, but I noticed banners hanging from the walls behind them in the shadows.<br/>
The door behind me shut loudly, leaving an echo bouncing off the walls.<br/>
It was quiet.<br/>
I swallowed dryly.<br/>
“Ameras Astas Komeras.” A deep voice spoke and I tried looking into the direction it came from, but being unable to make out who of the silhouettes said it. “Step fourth onto the mural.”<br/>
I did so without asking, even if my instincts screamed to turn away from the source that made it impossible to perceive my surroundings.<br/>
The colored stones underneath me felt smooth like glass and for a moment the blinding reflection intensified before it lessened. It became a dull shine that still illuminated the hall and finally I could open my eyes properly.<br/>
Blinking repeatedly and I saw the four figures standing in a circle around me now in detail.<br/>
One was a tall male with a dark complexion, wrapped in garments with various shades of red and gold with an intense air around him that made me want to avert my eyes immediately. He was certainly the leader, he had to be.<br/>
To his right was a small female with short blonde hair and pale skin, wearing a layered dress of heavy blue and white cloth. Her back was straight and the eyes pierced through me like daggers. I looked back without blinking. As I held her stare her eyes narrowed and I moved on to the next person.<br/>
I saw another male to the first persons left, definitely older than most people in this room. He was small, a little hunched over and had balding white hair on his head. Strange spectacles with multiple lenses sat on his nose and he seemed to be the least put together out of all of them, wearing a dirty mantle and gloves. He was looking at me with glassy eyes.<br/>
Another female stood next to him, she was about average height and with thick brown curls of hair falling onto her shoulders. Her cloak was a plain dark brown and there were many wrinkles on her face despite her appearing to be only in her thirties.<br/>
Glancing down I finally recognized what the mural I stood on depicted. I saw humans and dragons primarily, with different creatures like dwarves, elves, gnomes and many others sprinkled in between. It seemed to be separated into different segments, they were talking in one part, fighting in the other, running in the next…<br/>
It seemed to tell a story, although I was not in the mindset of figuring out what it was at the moment.<br/>
“You may call me Master Sana.” The voice of the male in red echoed through the hall, making me look at him again. Holding his gaze was a test in in of itself, everything about him demanded respect and the fact that he was nearly twice as tall as me did not help. He radiated power without even having to twitch a single finger.<br/>
“We were informed us that your specialty is ice.” He continued. “We usually expect more of a range of abilities when letting potential apprentices step in front of us, but Master Yamaju vouched for you so we will let you present yourself.”<br/>
The air in the room seems to shift at the mention of the mage who lead me here. The somehow silence grew even more tense as he walked past me and took his place next to the tired looking woman, giving his associates a polite smile in return.<br/>
“We welcome you, my name is Otono.” The one next to Master Yamaju spoke. Her voice sounded a bit like gravel rubbing against each other, but I saw genuine interest in her expression. “Where are you from?”<br/>
“I am from Pieh, near Stalrem.” I answered firmly. My hands were clasped underneath my cloak, they were sweating.<br/>
“You don’t seem like a Sand Walker from your appearance.” Master Sana hummed. “And you have three names, which is unusual for people who hail from the lands of the 3rd Generation.”<br/>
“Does it matter?” Master Yamaju interrupted before I could say anything, tapping his fingers on one leg ceaselessly.<br/>
“It does matter.” The small pale woman spoke up now with a tone as piercing as her eyes. “Many people from the Sumber Desert can’t read or write and even our average mages need basic education.”<br/>
The disinterested older man murmured something in affirmation and still looked through me as if I was nothing but air.<br/>
I was in disbelief, glancing between them while trying to keep a neutral expression. They could not be serious, right?<br/>
Master Sana and the small sorceress started murmuring among themselves in a hushed tone, the old mage still seemed not entirely present and Master Otono started glancing between them and back at Master Yamaju with discomfort.<br/>
The latter looked at the two discussing and back at her with an excusing smile. He said nothing, but I could see the smile not reaching his eyes.<br/>
Nobody even looked at me anymore and my stomach started to sink when I wondered if I even get a chance to prove myself in the first place. It was clear that at least two of them were not impressed with my heritage, a factor I had not expected to even count into all of this.<br/>
I felt like I was not wanted here and started to question my decision to come here, once again.<br/>
My lungs started to feel tighter. I was never a naïve person, I always did my best to expect the worst outcome and yet here I was, surprised at it all going wrong even without me making a mistake.<br/>
My throat became even dryer.<br/>
But then, despite them talking quietly, I could make out a sentence from the small mage who had glared at me since the beginning: “Yamaju has a tendency to pick up strays.”<br/>
My blood started to simmer. I had not dared to speak up before, but this angered me.<br/>
“I am not a street urchin, if this is what you worry about.” My voice echoed, being thrown off of the walls and back to us. There was an edge in my tone that I had not noticed until I finished speaking.<br/>
Immediately I had all their attention on me, even the one who had been acting aloof this whole time. Their reactions varied from widening their eyes in surprise to frowning at me.<br/>
I felt myself shrinking into my cloak a little. Maybe I should not have spoken up.<br/>
But I had already started this and everyone was quiet, so I might as well continue: “I have taught myself to read and write, with no help of anyone.” With the last spark of my sudden bravery diminishing I quickly added. “A-and I would like to present my powers now.”<br/>
“No respect.” The woman in blue hissed immediately. She turned to Master Sana. “We have no use for this kind of attitude.”<br/>
The aloof old man mumbled something in approval once more.<br/>
Looking at Master Yamaju, I found there was no trace of the warm expression he had shown before. His eyes were trained on his associates intently. “I chose those who I see potential in and young Ameras here is right. We should let him present his powers before jumping to conclusions.”<br/>
The sorceress pulled her white and blue garments tighter around her glaring and seemed for a moment like she was about to argue with him.<br/>
Master Sana coughed loudly before she could get a word out. Immediately the room turned quiet and focused on him.<br/>
He looked down at me. "Well then, show us.”<br/>
I straightened my back once more and raised my chin.<br/>
This was the moment, I could not fail.<br/>
Breathing in slowly I felt the moisture in the air being drawn towards me. There was not much around in a large stone hall as this, but I felt small cold crystals growing on my face and hair.<br/>
I wanted to start slowly and build my way up to my more impressive abilities.<br/>
Master Otono widened her eyes. “He is not using any movement.”<br/>
Master Yamaju turned towards the mage in red. “We should give him a bowl of water, something to work with-“<br/>
“Let him.” He was interrupted by the small sorceress again, with a glint of spite in her eyes. “What is a test without a small challenge?”<br/>
I disliked her. She did not even bother to tell me her name, but everything she said so far proved that she would never accept my abilities even if I made the world freeze over. Which meant I had to prove myself to the others first and foremost.<br/>
I shattered the ice shell on my skin into small pieces, letting them float around me as far as I could. The ground beneath my feet started to be covered by a layer of ice as well, drawing moisture from the stone beneath.<br/>
“A decent range of aura.” Master Sana murmured to himself while tapping his chin, paying close attention.<br/>
Then I was trying to recreate what I managed to do when trying to save myself from the Feri. I let spikes of ice grow out of the ground, quickly, but they were not nearly as tall or impressive as the obelisk sized ones I created back then.<br/>
“Nothing but a parlor trick. I’ve seen better from traveling magicians.” The small mage crossed her arms.<br/>
She distracted me with her hostile comments, compromising my concentration. I felt the air growing colder around me.<br/>
“She’s the worst, don’t mind her.” I heard the barely audible voice of Turo behind my ear. “Stop being a mouse and show them who’s boss.”<br/>
He was right, cowering in front of the High Mages would get me nowhere. I needed to show that I was willing to go far and beyond to become an apprentice.<br/>
I quickly glanced around to see if anyone heard the god, but they were all looking at the display of my powers.<br/>
The ice on the ground shattered into pieces, joining the ones already in the air. I raised one hand and with a swirling hand motion above me the particles followed it and condensed into a single sharp shard of ice.<br/>
She was barely within the range of my aura.<br/>
The shard flew straight at her in a single swift motion.<br/>
I heard the mages gasp, but did not look left and right.<br/>
And the shard stopped right in front of her face, close to touching her nose.<br/>
Seeing her eyes and mouth wide open and frozen in shock gave me a sense of victory, but a cold lump in my stomach warned me that this had been a mistake and consequences would follow suit.<br/>
The lump grew heavier as the expression of her turned from fear to rage. Her eyes snapped back at me and the shard in front of her boiled away within a second, mist floating in the air around her.<br/>
She had water powers, that was clear to me from this moment and unless another one of them shared this ability I might have just messed up my chances with the only one who could teach me properly.<br/>
Shit.<br/>
With her fists clenching, she opened her mouth and I was ready to turn back to the door I came in from-… when I heard a deep chuckle rumbling through the hall.<br/>
We both turned our heads in disbelief to see Master Sana, covering his mouth with a fist trying to keep his laughter in.<br/>
Now it was my time to have my mouth gaping in surprise, but I closed it quickly before anyone noticed.<br/>
The other mages seemed just as surprised to see their leader unable to contain his stoic expression themselves.<br/>
“It seems the boy nearly bested you, Seija.” He said when his laugh finally died down, but still with a grin on his face. “The boldness to attack one of us is quite impressive I have to admit.”<br/>
“Oh, shush!” The sorceress called Seija hissed and looked back at me like she wanted to eat me alive. “I could have warded off this puny piece of ice with not even a twitch of my finger.”<br/>
“He could have landed the hit if he wanted to and you know it.” Master Sana retorted and looked back at me, visibly warmer than before. “Well, can you do anything more?”<br/>
I could not believe it. My chances have risen a lot by impressing him, I could not let this opportunity go to waste! “I need a volunteer for the next ability I wish to show you.”<br/>
Immediately Master Yamaju stepped fourth. “If I may, Master Sana, I will volunteer.” He turned himself to me and I could see that he probably made the right guess to what I would try next.<br/>
“Step back to your spot, please.” The leader interrupted him and looked at him with a furrowed brow. “You were the one bringing him here and you are as aware as all of us that you may not help him in this trial.”<br/>
“This was not my intention-…“ The older mage protested, but Master Sana simply held up one hand, making him go quiet.<br/>
“I will volunteer in your stead.”<br/>
The quick spike in confidence was now replaced with uncertainty as their leader started walking towards me onto the mural. The red and golden robes billowed around him with the slightest movement and each step made him appear even taller than he was before.<br/>
I swallowed down the feeling of intimidation and did not move my eyes from him as I started studying his physicality using my aura.<br/>
His energy felt like it was singeing my face, as if I was standing too close to a huge bonfire. I resisted the urge to take a step back from him and was on a lookout for a weak point that I could try to use my powers on without harming him.<br/>
The sorcerer radiated vitality and power and the fact that his abilities seemed to be the opposite of mine would not make it any easier finding a place for my ice to take hold. For a moment I questioned if I could even manage to freeze someone who felt like a living walking flame, but I shook the thought out of my head.<br/>
This was a human, not a god. He had to be vulnerable somewhere.<br/>
And there it was, a dull spot in his aura, right underneath his left lung. Maybe it was an old injury, I was not sure, all I knew was that this was my chance.<br/>
Master Sana clearly expected me to use some sort of attack on him and had braced himself for it, but the reaction he had to me using my powers on him were immediate.<br/>
He doubled over wheezing heavily, clutching his side tightly.<br/>
I immediately stopped, surprised at the strong reaction I caused. I had barely twitched a finger, what was going on?<br/>
Luckily my powers did not continue freezing him against my will.<br/>
The mages eyes turned glassy for a moment before flickering up towards me. His voice sounded hollow, as if he was out of air.<br/>
“How did you-…?” He coughed.<br/>
“Do what?” I asked him, honestly confused. Looking around I found that the other mages were just as baffled as I was, staring at their leader and asking if he was alright.<br/>
What happened? I had used my ability the entire time while travelling and I barely even used it just now!<br/>
Master Sana righted himself again swaying lightly in place, ignoring the questions of his fellow mages. His expression immediately slipped back into the stoic expression from the beginning, looking down at me with a gravity that made me shrink into my cloak again.<br/>
“I have seen enough.” He rasped dryly.<br/>
The lump in my throat formed again.<br/>
“We will now each make our decision on whether or not we deem you worthy of joining our ranks.”<br/>
I swallowed once more as I stood there with five pairs of critical eyes on me that were scanning me from all sides.<br/>
I did not know how long this would take, but I was not asked to leave so I decided to stand there and wait.<br/>
I glanced at Master Yamaju, wondering what he thought of what just happened.<br/>
His expression gave away nothing, but his arms were crossed and once he noticed me looking at him his gaze drifted away.<br/>
Was this a good or a bad sign? Or was he deliberately not giving me a response because Master Sana had warned him before to not help me?<br/>
I did not dare to look at the other mages and instead looked at the mural beneath me. At some point the light that came from the windows diminished, but the mural kept glowing in a soft multicolored light that illuminated the hall.<br/>
I tried not to think about me having messed up whatever chance I had to get Master Sana on my side.</p><p>I did not know if five minutes passed or fifteen.<br/>
The mages had not communicated with each other this entire time, just looking at me or around the room in silence.<br/>
Wiping my still sweating hands discreetly underneath my cloak I wished that it would be over soon.<br/>
I startled when without a warning Master Sana’s voice boomed around the hall: “Have we all come to a conclusion?”<br/>
Multiple sounds of confirmation echoed around me and I grew very tense.<br/>
“Master Yamaju, since you brought him here you may voice your thoughts first.”<br/>
The mage nodded and gave me a small smile. “I am still convinced of Ameras’ abilities and think he would do well learning under our care.”<br/>
“Of course you are.” I nearly missed the low muttering of Master Seija. My jaw clenched up.<br/>
“Master Otono?” The mage was called up next.<br/>
She gave a thoughtful hum and looked at me with a slightly cocked head. “I agree with Master Yamaju, I can see potential in the way his powers build up on themselves.”<br/>
I had two of them in my favor and I felt a small sense of relief, but only for a moment.<br/>
“Master Genno?”<br/>
The old mage who had been looking through me exhaled slowly through his nose and leaned back on his heels a little. His voice sounded raspy and quiet, mumbling into the collar of his dirty coat. “We have no use for him.”<br/>
My heart sank.<br/>
“Master Seija?”<br/>
The mage’s eyes turned to me and one corner of her mouth twitched upwards, just slightly. “No.”<br/>
I had expected this, but I still felt my shoulders moved closer to my neck. It was not looking well for me.<br/>
“Well then…” Master Sana hummed. His expression was stern and gave nothing away.<br/>
My head lowered itself. He would reject me, I was sure of it. I had made a mistake when freezing him, even if I was not sure what it was. My powers had obeyed me perfectly and I had not even-<br/>
“I see potential in your abilities and the spark of ambition in your eyes. I see no reason not to accept you.”<br/>
What?<br/>
Did I hear that right?<br/>
I looked back up at the sorcerer in question who gave me a short nod and back at Master Yamaju who seemed to try his hardest to keep a smile down.<br/>
My back was straight and I took a step towards the leader of the mages. “Thank you!”<br/>
“Now, who of you would like to mentor this young man?”<br/>
The question stayed in the room for a moment or two when I noticed that nobody volunteered.<br/>
I looked around in confusion, but the High Mages all looked at Master Seija.<br/>
She crossed her arms shaking her head. “I have no interest in this boy and you are aware I already have an apprentice.”<br/>
“But you would be the optimal choice when mentoring someone with ice abilities.” Master Otono replied.<br/>
“This is my last word on the matter.”<br/>
Now they looked around among each other as if silently asking one another.<br/>
For a moment I was worried if I would not get a mentor after all, but then Master Yamaju stepped forth in a hurried manner. “I will do it then.”<br/>
Master Sana raised an eyebrow. “Are you certain? You have no water based powers yourself.”<br/>
“I have a base understanding of it, the rest I can further my knowledge using my library.”<br/>
The leader seemed skeptical, but motioned for the mage to stand by my side.<br/>
He raised his voice in a way I could only describe as ceremonial: “It is decided: Master Yamaju, from this day on you shall be Ameras Astas Komeras’ mentor. You shall bring fourth his true potential for he is Amnrenas’ future, hope and protector.”<br/>
The three other mages repeated his words like an echo.<br/>
Then he looked at me with solemn eyes: “Ameras Astas Komeras, you shall learn and grow until you can no more, for you will shape this world’s path with using wisdom, spirit and power. From this day on you shall be called by the second name that you are given, carry it with pride and honor.”<br/>
I bowed my head deeply in thanks and felt the warm glow of happiness in my chest.<br/>
I did it.</p>
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<a name="section0028"><h2>28. The first Day</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks to Holly again for proof reading.<br/>It has been a while since I've been uploading, but I prefer these longer chapters instead of throwing out short ones.<br/>I hope you enjoy, leave kudos if you'd like!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>„You did it!“<br/>
Turo jumped around me in what I supposed was a victory dance as I put the keys to Master Yamaju’s library on the table next to me. He sent me back and told me to wait here as he still had a few matters to discuss with the other High Mages.<br/>
The god threw his fist in the air yelling: “We are IN! Now it’ll be a walk in the park finding out more about the corruption!”<br/>
“Be quiet!” I shushed him. “How am I supposed to keep you hidden if you keep jumping out of the shadows the second you think nobody is around?”<br/>
He waved it off. “Don’t worry about it, the walls of this place are super thick. Nobody will hear me.” In a few small hops he threw himself on the couch again, grinning at the ceiling. “Oh man, there are so many fun places here I have to show you!”<br/>
“What happened to ‘We are here now. Whatever is necessary for our goals.’? I thought you disliked Phoedrian?”<br/>
“Shhh.” Turo put a finger on his mouth. “Let me be drunk on victory for a little longer.”<br/>
Did he forget of the risk we were taking just by being here? “Do you not think that this is the time we should plan ahead? Where should we stay? How we can keep you hidden? Figure out when you should be nearby so I can use my powers-…”<br/>
“Astas. Astas!” The god interrupted my thinking and gave me a small amused smirk. “You just got accepted, that’s all that counts. You should celebrate a little!”<br/>
I was opening my mouth to answer back, but he kept talking. “Or if that’s not your thing at least sit down and relax for a second. Anything else you can take care in the morning.”<br/>
Despite me not agreeing with Turo being this careless about the situation I sunk down into the cushions across him. The tiredness came rushing back to me now that my trial was over and I just wanted to lie down and rest.</p><p>The next morning I woke up wrapped in a soft blanket and with the sun in my face.<br/>
It took me a moment to realize where I was and while I was blinking the sleep from my eyes I sat up and looked outside of the window next to the bed. I could see the castle looming in the distance, only separated by a few streets.<br/>
Last night Master Yamaju came back and wasted no time providing me with a quick meal he bought on his way back and showing me to my room, which was behind one of the doors on the hallway to his library.<br/>
Everything had been a haze and I could barely hold my eyes open. Thinking about it, I was not even able to remember the meal I had.<br/>
My bed and the window were separated by a curtain and I pulled it open to reveal the room behind it.<br/>
There was not much to it yet, just a small table for studies in the corner, a mostly empty bookshelf and a rug with purple and red embroidery on the floor.<br/>
It was good enough for me, really.<br/>
I found Turo half sitting against a wall with the chin on his chest, snoring quietly.<br/>
Sighing I got up. I needed to find a way for him to stay here, eat and sleep without my teacher noticing.<br/>
A bubbly feeling prickled at the back of my neck and I bobbed up and down my toes a little. This was my first day as an apprentice, I was quite looking forward to what it had to offer.<br/>
“Turo.” I nudged the god with the tip of my foot slightly, but just got a low grumble in return.<br/>
“Turo!” Still keeping my voice hushed I prodded his leg a little harder and his eyes finally shot open.<br/>
“Ouch! Hey.” He blinked up to me. “What was that for?”<br/>
“It is morning. We have to figure out what we should do about you living in this city, preferably before Master Yamaju asks for my presence.”<br/>
“Don’t worry!” He stretches his arms and legs, wincing slightly as he moved his neck. “I’ll just be your shadow, as usual. Nobody will notice.”<br/>
I insisted. “But what if they do? We need a plan for a way out if it happens. Also I doubt that you can stay in my shadow for weeks without getting bored and wanting to go on an adventure alone.”<br/>
“That-… okay yeah, you maybe have a point.” He swung his legs up in the air and used the momentum of them falling back down to heave his entire body up into a standing position.<br/>
I had to take a step back in bewilderment, it just looked so unnatural I could not help but stare.<br/>
He just grinned at me and put the hands on his hips. “But if we find out better ways to deal with that little situation of ours we can just adjust on the fly, right?”<br/>
In this moment it knocked on the door, both Turo and I startled.<br/>
“Good morning, Astas! I hope you are already awake, I expect you in the dining room after you have gotten ready, alright?” I heard Master Yamaju’s voice at the other side.<br/>
“Um, yes! Thank you.” I replied looking at my secret companion with worry. I hoped the mage did not hear us talking.</p><p>It took me a few attempts to find the dining room. I discovered two large bathrooms, a kitchen and a wash room before I finally opened the right door. Turo tried to give me hints into the right direction, but I told him to be quiet for the worry he might be heard.<br/>
My ally did mention that he had been to the Halls of Knowledge multiple times in the past before being chased away, so I assumed that he knew my new Master personally at least to some degree. This was not the time to ask him about it, however.<br/>
Speaking of which, I found Master Yamaju sitting at a large wooden table, the kind where ten people could easily take a seat at, idly flicking through a small bound book while stirring a cup.<br/>
My eyes caught the table where a few plates are set out with meats, eggs, vegetables and bread. The smell of a steaming kettle promised that there would be tea to this early meal.<br/>
The mage looked up and greeted me with a smile. “Come on in, take a seat.” He gestured to a chair across him and put a scrap of paper into his book, setting it aside.<br/>
I felt a bit sheepish meeting this powerful mage so casually and held my head down while shuffling over to the table.<br/>
“I hope you had a good rest! After breakfast you will meet another young apprentice who will help you pick out your new working attire at our local tailor.”<br/>
I had been in the process of taking the kettle and filling my cup, but stopped to look up at my teacher. “Working attire?”<br/>
“Yes, it is a mere formality for professional mages at the plateaus to own clothes that help us be flexible in the use of our abilities. Considering you came here all this way in the same attire I assumed you would appreciate a little something new?”<br/>
I set the kettle down. “Um, yes. Thank you.” I had been planning on using the gold he lent me to get myself new clothing and some essentials either way. “Do you want the money you gave me back after that?”<br/>
The mage shook his head. “Oh no, you may keep it. All necessary items for your studies I’ll provide myself, use your gold however you wish in your free time.”<br/>
“Oh.” I did not know what to say, so I said nothing.<br/>
“Are you alright?”<br/>
The question caught me off-guard and it took me a moment to respond. “Oh, of course.” Why would I not be?<br/>
Master Yamaju hummed to himself and we continued eating in silence.</p><p>After breakfast I got ready for the day and was about to step into the library when I heard the mage talking and a female voice answering him.<br/>
I stopped in front of the closed door leaning in, but could not make out any words, only that the other person sounded unfamiliar.<br/>
Opening the door both Master Yamaju and his visitor turned to me.<br/>
There was a woman who was maybe eighteen years old with long brown curls to her back. Her skin was a darker tan with a pale birthmark stretching from her left eye down her cheek.<br/>
That had to be the other apprentice I had been told of.<br/>
“Hello! You are Astas, right?” She flashed me a smile and walked over to me, taking my hand and shaking it before I could even open my mouth. “My name is Adhel, nice to meet you!”<br/>
I did not know what to make of her, but I forced my shoulders down which instantly moved up with her approaching so quickly. “Um, hello.”<br/>
“Master Yamaju told me that you haven’t had the time to see Phoedrian yet, so I hope you can get a good first impression while we go shopping. Are you ready?”<br/>
Was I ready? I had been excited for my first day as an apprentice, but having to deal with other apprentices was not even an option I had considered. Until now I always avoided talking to people if it was not strictly necessary, but it seemed I did not have much of a choice now.<br/>
“Of course.”</p><p>The first minute walking with Adhel was quiet, we moved out of the pocket the Halls of Knowledge was in towards the main road when the other pointed to two buildings to our right.<br/>
“This over there with the orange roof is where I live by the way and the one next to that belongs to Margaret. Master Yamaju told me you specialize in ice, she does too so I’m sure you’ll meet her sometime soon.”<br/>
Ah, I assumed this was the one learning under Master Seija. If she was anything like her I would not look forward to making acquaintance with her.<br/>
“And the store next to my house belongs to me actually!” Adhel lets out a small laugh. “I am a part time herbalist, Master Otono helped me setting it all up so I could make some money of my own.”<br/>
I was not sure if she expected me to answer to that, so I just hummed in affirmation.<br/>
We walked along the main road surrounded by what seemed to be mostly residences. All of them seemed to be build out of different kinds of materials, which gave the streets the vibrant atmosphere I noticed in the beginning. There were different kinds of rock, wood and metal, sometimes I could even see embedded gem stones glint in the sunlight.<br/>
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” The other apprentice must have caught me staring at the unfamiliar white shimmering rock one of the buildings is made of. “I think this one is from the far west, there are white cliffs and beaches that look like snow.”<br/>
The girl seemed talkative, but I still did not know how to respond to her. It was strange, Turo had acted much more extroverted the entire time he was around me, but talking to him was somehow easier. I blamed it on a difference of personality.<br/>
“I wanted to ask, where did Master Yamaju discover you? The Mages haven’t left the plateaus for months now, are you from around here?”<br/>
Ah, personal questions. I had expected these. “No, I am from the Sumber Desert. I met him in Throttley.”<br/>
She turned her head to me. “Wait, are you telling me that you traveled all this way to seek him out yourself?”<br/>
Well, not specifically him, just one of them. “Yes.”<br/>
“Wow.” Hazel eyes stared at me wide open. “Usually they recruit people by themselves. You have guts to just face them on your own!”<br/>
Was what I did really that unusual? I did not feel particularly brave or bold, I just did what I deemed necessary.<br/>
We passed a few blocks and arrived at a street that went around in a circle with predominately stores in a variety of shapes and colors built along it.<br/>
In the middle stood two massive buildings, one seemed to be a prestigious inn with marble balconies, a silver reflecting roof and a golden sheen around each window and door. The other looked comparatively simple, red brick and a great wooden door set in metal. A big sign read overhead read ‘The Merchants Guild’.<br/>
Adhel pointed ahead past the guild. “The tailor is just around the corner. This is where we usually go for our high quality clothes.”<br/>
A few minutes later the other apprentice led me to a tall yellow building with a flat roof. Pale pink structures like vines grew up along the walls, circling around the door and the windows. Above the door the vines spelled out The Walking Silk.<br/>
“Adrian is the best tailor you find in the Plateaus, they designed pretty much all the High Mages robes.” Adhel chattered while she walked up towards the door.<br/>
I followed suit.<br/>
She opened the door and a blue glass bell chimed above us.<br/>
The inside of the store was brightly lit with a polished wooden floor, green walls with golden plant imagery along the edges. A thin transparent pipe ran along the upper edge of the walls that glowed with something that made a faint crackling sound like contained lightning.<br/>
Multiple shelves with panels of fabric hanging from them stood beneath, a few of them seemed to be lighter than air, they moved with the slight disturbance of air we created by coming in.<br/>
The floor was raised in the back part of the store and a few steps led up to racks on which there were outfits on display: Some cloaks, dresses, full body suits and armor. There were also strange amalgamation of different clothes that I could not quite pinpoint what it was or if a human was even able to wear it at all.<br/>
It was still quite early so there was nobody in here, but just a few moments of looking around passed when I heard quick steps from the large stairs that led up to what I assumed to be a second floor.<br/>
The person that appeared was wearing a long flowing green mantle and golden rings flashing on their ears. They had dark skin, a tuft of reddish brown hair on their head and almost shockingly golden eyes.<br/>
I had only seen eyes this bright when Turo had used his energy to attack monsters, so for a moment I seriously thought they would blast Adhel right back through the door we came through.<br/>
Instead they walked up to her smiling widely. “Adhel, it has been a while! How are you?”<br/>
“I’m sorry I haven’t had the time to come by lately. I have been running out of most of my herbs and it was impossible to get them anywhere.” She sighed and her shoulders slumped for the first time I have seen her, her smile turned more forced. “It has been getting rough.”<br/>
“Oh, you tell me. I’m trying not to show it down here in the store, but upstairs is barely anything left. I can’t even indulge in small experiments without worrying that I need that fabric for customer orders.” The tailor dug their hands in the pockets of their mantle, frowning at the ground.<br/>
I watched the quick exchange and felt out of place, as if this conversation had not been for my ears.<br/>
For a moment they simply stood there lost in their own thoughts before the girl blinked and turned to me. Her cheerful demeanor returned all of the sudden. “Oh yes, this is Astas by the way! He is the new apprentice of Master Yamaju and we’re here to order him a set of clothes.”<br/>
Adrian looked up again and for the first time seemed to notice my presence. Quickly they stepped towards me and stretched out a hand. “Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t introduce myself right away, my name is Adrian.”<br/>
I glanced at the hand in front of me. The switch from the gloomy mood to being this casual again was confusing and for a moment I did not know what they wanted from me.<br/>
Then I gingerly took the hand and shook it.<br/>
Adrian hummed and tapped their chin with a finger. “So, Master Yamaju? He didn’t have an apprentice in a long time. What are your powers?”<br/>
“Ice.” I answered quickly.<br/>
“That’s it?”<br/>
What did they mean ‘That’s it’? I looked back up at their face and pushed my brows together.<br/>
Immediately Adrian raised their hands. “Oh, I’m sorry that was not supposed to sound like judgement! It’s just important for me to know since I need to choose the right fabric and enchantments for you. It has to resist your particular brand of energy, you know?”<br/>
“Ah.” I felt my shoulders relax slightly. “Only ice.”<br/>
“Good! Then come with, we can take a look around.” The tailor led me closer to the fabrics that hung on the shelves and began to rummage through them.<br/>
Adhel called out that she would go out in the meantime and told us to ‘Have fun’. I have never had my measures taken, I did not know if this was a particular fun activity.<br/>
“Do you have any preference in color?”<br/>
I looked down at myself and my dark cloak with the earth colored sturdy leather armor underneath. This was pretty typical travelling attire for people in the desert and there were rarely variations aside from what shade of sand and rock you would like to wear.<br/>
“Blue.” My favorite color, it was clear and calming.<br/>
“Like darker shades or-“<br/>
“Light.”<br/>
“I see.” They glanced me up and down and moved over to another shelf. “If you don’t mind, I’ll look for something less heavy. You seem pretty delicate so you might want your outfit to give you greater mobility.”<br/>
I pressed my lips together before mumbling. “Alright.”<br/>
Adrian turned their head abruptly, ear rings dangling. “I am sorry, I didn’t want to assume-“<br/>
I did not answer. They were right, I was thin and sickly, the reason I was not useful for hard labor.<br/>
Taking a step forward I eyed a fabric in a nice pale blue shade and took it between my fingers for a moment.<br/>
It felt thick but not heavy, providing protection without weighing me down. “This one.”<br/>
“Oh?” Adrian pulled it out and examined it. “Hm, yes. This might work.”<br/>
Mumbling they held it up to my body, wrapping it around my shoulders and nodded, seeming content. “Your outfit has to withstand regular exposure to energy, you know? Everyday clothes would just not cut it in the long term.”<br/>
That was true, after having used ice as a shield directly on my body the edges of my sleeves and cloak have gotten thin and frayed. The elements definitely took their toll.</p><p>Soon after I had chosen more fabric for my working outfit and had my measures taken I opened the door to the Halls of Knowledge once more. Adhel had guided me all the way back even though I knew I was capable of that on my own, especially with Turo knowing Pheodrian better than I do.<br/>
Still I bit my tongue and let it happen.<br/>
Speaking of the god, he had been quiet this entire time but now I felt his usually suppressed aura flickering more often. I figured he would get restless, but after this short of a time was ridiculous. We needed a solution, quickly.<br/>
I found my Master hunched over in the library over a study desk, multiple books open in front of him. He rested his chin in his hand while quietly mouthing the words he read with a concentrated expression.<br/>
I cleared my throat a little to get his attention, but he seemed to be lost in his tomes.<br/>
Quietly I moved over to him, peering over his shoulder.<br/>
Every single one of the books I could see were written about the properties of water in aura, at the moment Master Yamaju’s eyes seemed to be focused on a particular page about soul bonds with ice.<br/>
It was embarrassing, I completely forgot I came in here to tell him about my visit at the tailor and lost myself too in what little I had the opportunity to read about my particular element.<br/>
I did not know how long I stood there quietly reading alongside him when I heard a loud cough right next to my ear and both Master Yamaju und I jumped.<br/>
“Oh! Astas, you are back! I have not heard you come in, forgive me.”<br/>
Turo! He did that on purpose, I was sure. He was lucky was not able to give him a stern talking then and there.<br/>
“I trust that your order of work attire is set?”<br/>
I nodded. “I am told it will take about a week to have everything ready.”<br/>
The mage smiled. “Perfect, in that case we can focus on the business at hand, shall we?”<br/>
I frowned, not knowing what he was talking about.<br/>
“Are you ready for your first lesson?”</p>
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